Caring Relationships - Gundersen Health System

Progress in Prostate Cancer
Stereotactic Radiotherapy:
Increased accuracy, improved cure rates
Prostate cancer may be treated by any of several
possible methods: surgery, radioactive seed implants,
seed implants plus wide-field external radiation,
and stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT). The doctor and patient
discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each method,
taking into account the patient’s age and the stage of the
cancer. As skills and technologies improve, the 10-year cure
rates increase steadily for all these methods.
Stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) is a relatively new prostate
cancer treatment at Gundersen Lutheran. It delivers a much
higher dose of radiation to the prostate gland with much
greater accuracy than ever before. This technology was first
used to treat brain tumors, with the advantage of pin-point
guidance of the radiation beam from several angles, enabling
delivery of a higher treatment dose with less radiation
damage to nearby brain tissue. That science has been adapted
to prostate cancer treatment, with strikingly favorable results.
For patients whose disease is detected early while confined
to the prostate gland, stereotactic radiotherapy is now the
treatment of choice.
Radiation oncologist Philip O. Doescher, MD, sees stereotactic
radiotherapy as a big technological step forward in the treatment of
prostate cancer.
MedWatch is published bi-monthly by
Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation.
Editor: A. Erik Gundersen, MD, Vice Chairman.
Join us for refreshments and holiday cheer!
Thursday, December 11, 2–4:00pm
First floor of the main clinic in the John
and Nettie Mooney Health Resource Center.
Everyone welcome!
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