Plan reproducibility of intraoperatively custom-built linked seeds compared to loose seeds for prostate brachytherapy

Few studies have compared the implant quality of linked and loose seeds for prostate brachytherapy. This study aimed to evaluate and compare plan reproducibility of intraoperatively built custom linked seeds and loose seeds for prostate brachytherapy. Between December 2010 and March 2014, 76 localized prostate cancer patients received Iodine-125 brachytherapy with external beam radiotherapy. Linked and loose seeds were implanted in 39 and 37 patients, respectively. The primary endpoint was the mean (± standard deviation) of the absolute change in the minimum dose received by 90% of the prostate volume between intraoperative and post-operative planning (ΔD ) to confirm plan reproducibility. Comparisons between the groups were evaluated using 2-sample tests. The ΔD values were 6.95 ± 11.6% and -0.41 ± 8.5% for the loose and linked seed groups, respectively ( < 0.01). The linked seed group showed decreased post-operative D (118.8% vs. 127.2%), V (51.7% vs. 66.7%), and RV (0.44 ml vs. 0.61 ml) compared to the loose seed group ( < 0.01), whereas lung migration tended to be reduced (0% vs. 8%). The plan reproducibility of the linked seed group was better than that of the loose seed group. Moreover, the linked seed group showed less migration and lower rectal dose.