The second form is external radiation.
Many patients get external radiation treatments after brachytherapy.
Alternatives to surgery include external radiation or the implantation of so-called radiation seeds.
They were more often associated with external radiation exposure, not always with internal exposure.
A third study from Canada is comparing external radiation and a technique to freeze the prostate known as cryotherapy.
It is inaccurate and misleading to use the term "acceptable levels of external radiation" in assessing internal radiation exposures.
Among his options are surgery, radioactive seed implants, external radiation or some combination of treatments, he said.
The seeds are the second phase of his treatment, with hormone therapy the first and external radiation the third.
Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, spent months weighing the options before choosing implanted radioactive seeds, followed by external radiation.
The mayor had a slew of radiation seeds implanted in the prostate and will follow up later with five weeks of external radiation.
The mayor said that the external radiation treatments would last about five weeks, which would bring his therapy to a close at the end of the year.
