Urethral stricture following high dose rate brachytherapy for prostate cancer

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the incidence, timing, nature and outcome of urethral strictures following high dose rate brachytherapy (HDRB) for prostate carcinoma. Methods and materials: Data from 474 patients with clinically localised prostate cancer treated with HDRB were analysed. Ninety percent received HDRB as a boost to external beam radiotherapy (HDRBB) and the remainder as monotherapy (HDRBM). Urethral strictures were graded according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v3.0. Results: At a median follow-up of 41 months, 38 patients (8%) were diagnosed with a urethral stricture (6-year actuarial risk 12%). Stricture location was bulbo-membranous (BM) urethra in 92.1%. The ov..