More than 38,000 cancer patients will be treated this year using silver-bearing prostate seed implants, according to Princeton, N.J.-based Nycomed Amersham Imaging, which makes a brand of the cancer-fighting seeds.
Prostate seed implant therapy is a non-surgical outpatient procedure in which radioactive seeds are implanted within the prostate, where they irradiate the tumour. The company’s product, dubbed OncoSeedTM is a tiny pellet about the size of a rice grain, consisting of a titanium capsule containing silver wire adsorbed with radioactive iodine. The seeds irradiate the tumour from within and usually have a minimal effect on neighbouring organs. Silver wire makes an ideal material because it adsorbs the radioactive iodine well and is not harmful to tissue. Also, the metal’s high density results in clear pictures when viewed on medical imaging equipment.
Prostate seed implant therapy has been demonstrated to have a survival rate comparable to surgery but without the invasiveness. Within days following the procedure, most patients are back to their everyday lives.
Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men. According to the National Cancer Institute, in Bethesda, Md., more than 180,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2000, and nearly 32,000 men will die from the disease. An estimated eight out of 10 men diagnosed with prostate cancer are over 65. By age 75, roughly half of American men will have cancerous changes in the prostate. Nycomed Amersham Imaging has begun a nationwide educational campaign about prostate cancer, offering a booklet and video. You can visit their web site at www.oncoseed.com for more information.
— The preceding is an excerpt from Silver News, published by the Washington, D.C.-based Silver Institute.
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