Prostate implant nomograms for the North American Scientific 103Pd seed.

Palladium-103-(103Pd) seed has been increasingly used in prostate implantation as either definitive or boost therapy because of its shorter half-life and higher initial dose rate. Because a growing number of radiation oncologists prefer real-time implantation in the operating room, it will be helpful if the total activity of the seeds can be determined based on the gland size before the patient is taken to the operating room. Based on our clinic data, nomograms have therefore been developed for one of the widely used 103Pd seeds, the MED3633 seed, which is produced by North American Scientific, Inc. (NASI). The total activities for implant volume ranging from 15 cc to 55 cc are provided for both seed "monotherapy" and seed boost.