This section of the website is for men who have been diagnosed with localised prostate cancer, and their partners or the people who look after them. Localised prostate cancer means that the cancer has not spread outside the prostate gland.

Here, you will find information on low dose-rate prostate brachytherapy, a treatment you might choose if you have localised prostate cancer.

Brachytherapy is a type of radiotherapy, or radiation treatment. Radiotherapy uses gamma- or x-rays to treat cancer. The radiation involved is much stronger than that used for an ordinary x-ray picture. There are two types of brachytherapy - high dose-rate (HDR) and low dose-rate (LDR). LDR brachytherapy is the type that is most commonly used to treat prostate cancer; it may sometimes be referred to as 'seed implantation' or be called 'pinhole surgery'.

We hope that these pages will provide you with a good level of information to help you find out if LDR brachytherapy is right for you.

The information found on these pages should also help you to discuss LDR brachytherapy as a possible treatment choice with your partner, general practitioner, specialist, or the prostate cancer treatment team at your hospital.

You can find more information about prostate cancer, LDR brachytherapy and other prostate cancer treatments in the 'Other sources of information' section of the website. Further reading from these sources is strongly recommended.