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Cancer Care: Areas of Expertise
Prostate Cancer: Radiation Safety

When patients are receiving external beam radiation, as far as the general public goes, there are no safety procedures that need to be followed. Once the treatment is completed and the machine is turned off, there is no radiation in the room and no radiation in your body. Therefore, you do not need to worry about contact with children, pregnant women or anybody else.

Both Palladium-103 and Iodine-125 emit continuous radiation. Since the radiation is very low energy, most of the radiation is confined to the prostate gland and the immediate surrounding area. Parts of the body that are more than a few inches away do not receive enough radiation to be damaged.

Bodily wastes such as urine and stool are not radioactive unless a seed is present. On rare occasions, a seed may be lost during urination. If a seed passes, it will most likely occur in the first week following the implant procedure.

Small amounts of radiation can reach other people. For most people, this is not a cause for concern. For example, if your significant other sleeps with you every night, they will get less radiation from you than they would get from a chest x-ray or mammogram. Therefore, there are no restrictions when it comes to adults.

Growing children and a growing fetus within a pregnant woman are sensitive to the effects of radiation. Radiation can cause cancer in growing tissues and can cause birth defects. If such people are exposed to you, we advise that you keep a distance of 6 or more feet, until about 75% of the isotope has decayed. Pd-103 has a half-life of 17 days, and we suggest that you follow these guidelines for 5 weeks. I-125 has a half-life of 60 days, and therefore decays more slowly. Additionally, the radiation energy of I-125 is slightly higher and more penetrating than Pd-103; and therefore, in the case of I-125 we suggest that you follow these guidelines for 4 1/2 months. Stricter guidelines are advised for sleeping with pregnant women, or holding infants or small children in your lap. You should avoid these activities for 2 months with Pd-103 and 7 months for I-125. Brief encounters for hugging or saying hello are allowed.

Lead-Lined Underwear
If there are infants at home or if you have frequent contact with grandchildren or other small children, you may want to consider purchasing lead-lined underwear. These garments weigh about 1 pound. They can be worn when you plan to have extended contact with children or kids in your lap. We have taken measurements, and no radiation could be detected outside this garment. They are worn over your regular underwear. Some seed implant patients come into close, frequent contact with pregnant women at work. The lead-lined underwear may serve to allay any fears that your coworkers may have. They cost about $100.

Condoms
A condom is recommended during sexual intercourse for the first several encounters or for 3-4 months in the case of Pd-103 and 12 months in the case of I-125. Occasionally, seeds that are implanted into the seminal vesicles, may enter the patient’s semen, and be ejaculated. We have had several patients report that seeds were found in the semen, but the actual frequency of this event is not known.

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