• UCLA Health
  • myUCLAhealth
  • School of Medicine
Radiation Oncology UCLA

UCLA Radiation Oncology

Radiation Oncology UCLA
  • Explore UCLA Radiation Oncology
    • Chair's Welcome
    • Contact Us
    • In the News
    • Newsletters
    • Webinars
    • Innovation & Technology
    • Maps and Directions
    • Scholarly Activity
    • How You Can Help
    • Refer a Patient
  • For Patients
    • Appointments
    • Patient Education Video
    • First Visit for Patients
    • FAQs
    • Testimonials
    • Patient Stories
    • Radiation Oncology Treatment Team
    • Resources / Links
    • Clinical Trials
    • Contact Us
    • Maps and Directions
    • Health Plans
  • Services & Specialties
    • Clinical Programs
    • Brain & Spine Tumors
    • Breast Cancer
    • GI Cancers (Rectal, Anal, Pancreas)
    • GU Cancers (Prostate, Bladder, Kidney)
    • Gynecologic Cancers
    • Head and Neck Cancer
    • Lung Cancer
    • Lymphoma
    • Sarcoma
    • Skin Cancer
  • Brachytherapy at UCLA
    • Treatments Offered
    • Fellowship Program
    • Patient Forms and Information
    • Contact Us
  • Education
    • Medical Residency Program
    • Welcome and Overview
    • Conferences and Courses
    • Brachytherapy Fellowship Program
    • BioMedical Physics Graduate Program
    • Medical Physics Residency Program
    • Medical Student Rotation
  • Research
    • Division of Molecular and Cellular Oncology
    • Clinical Research Team
    • Medical Physics Research
    • Translational Research
  • Clinical Trials
  • Our Expert Team
    • Physicians
    • Brachytherapy Team
    • Clinical Research Team
    • Division of Molecular and Cellular Oncology Research Faculty
    • Dosimetrists
    • Medical Residents
    • Nursing and Social Worker Services
    • Physicists
    • Radiation Therapists
    • Social Workers
    • Refer a Patient
  • UCLA Health
  • myUCLAhealth
  • School of Medicine

UCLA Radiation Oncology

Services & Specialties

Services & Specialties

Services & Specialties

  • Clinical Programs
    • Brachytherapy
    • Functional Image-Guided Radiation Therapy
    • Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT)
    • Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT)
      • Video: What is SBRT
      • FAQs: SBRT
      • Recent Treatment Advances
      • Ask an SBRT Expert
      • SBRT for Prostate Cancer
      • SBRT Expert Team
      • SBRT Quality Care
      • Radiosurgery (SRS) and SBRT Novalis Tx Technology
    • Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS)
      • Radiosurgery History
      • SRS Expert Team
      • Radiosurgery and SBRT Technology
      • Radiosurgery - Clinical Indications
  • Brain & Spine Tumors
    • Acoustic Neuroma
    • Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM)
    • Brain Metastases
    • Functional Disorders/Trigeminal Neuralgia
    • Glioma
    • Meningioma
    • Pituitary Tumor
    • Spinal Tumors
  • Breast Cancer
    • Possible Side Effects
  • GI Cancers (Rectal, Anal, Pancreas)
    • Gastrointestinal Cancer - Radiation Therapy
    • Possible Side Effects
  • GU Cancers (Prostate, Bladder, Kidney)
    • Prostate Cancer
      • Prostate Cancer Radiation Treatment
      • SBRT for Prostate Cancer
    • Bladder Cancer
  • Gynecologic Cancers
    • Brachytherapy
      • Image Guided Brachytherapy
      • Types of Image Guided Brachytherapy
    • External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT)
      • Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT)
      • Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT)
    • Options for Recurrent Malignancies
    • Treatment Process
  • Head and Neck Cancer
  • Lung Cancer
    • Treatment
    • Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT)
    • What is Lung Cancer?
  • Lymphoma
  • Sarcoma
  • Skin Cancer
  • Clinical Programs
  • Brain & Spine Tumors
  • Breast Cancer
  • GI Cancers (Rectal, Anal, Pancreas)
  • GU Cancers (Prostate, Bladder, Kidney)
  • Gynecologic Cancers
  • Head and Neck Cancer
  • Lung Cancer
  • Lymphoma
  • Sarcoma
  • Skin Cancer
  • Prostate Cancer
  • Bladder Cancer
  • Prostate Cancer Radiation Treatment
  • SBRT for Prostate Cancer
  1. Home
  2. Services & Specialties
  3. GU Cancers (Prostate, Bladder, Kidney)
  4. Prostate Cancer

Prostate Cancer

Share this
Prostate Patient

Prostate Cancer Treatment at UCLA

Treating Prostate Cancer

If you find out you have prostate cancer,  discuss your treatment options with a radiation oncologist, a cancer doctor who specializes in treating disease with radiation therapy, and a urologist, a surgeon who specializes in the urinary tract. Options for prostate cancer include:

  • Surgery
  • Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy
  • External beam radiation therapy
  • Prostate brachytherapy
  • Hormone therapy

Sometimes a combination of treatments is best for your cancer, such as surgery followed by external beam radiation. Some men can safely postpone treatment and watch it closely until treatment is needed. This is called watchful waiting.

External Beam Radiation Therapy

External beam radiation therapy involves a series of daily treatments to accurately deliver radiation to the prostate. Successful treatment requires tight coordination between the physicians, medical physicists, and therapists.  UCLA medical physicists/dosimetry provide Quality Assurance testing on each treatment plan of the highest quality.  This team maintains the performance of the treatment machines and checks each IMRT plan PRIOR to the actual treatment starting on any patient.  All of this is done "behind the scenes" by this well-known and talented group of professionals helping to make the treatment process as safe and smooth as possible.

Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT) for Prostate Cancer

The UCLA Prostate SBRT program is led by Dr. Chris King and Dr. Michael Steinberg, recognized leaders in the field. SBRT is a technique that uses 5 fractions (treatments) of highly focused radiation on a special treatment machine that allows for maximal accuracy.  UCLA physicians were some of the first in the world to have pioneered the use of stereotactic radiosurgery techniques for prostate cancer.  Dr. King has published seminal papers and lectures extensively. His publications on SBRT can be found below.

More about SBRT for Prostate Cancer »

Prostate Brachytherapy

The brachytherapy division at UCLA is a specialized team and capable of performing complicated implants not available elsewhere. The team currently offers a CT-image guided approach to placement of catheters to maximize safety and precision.

Prostate brachytherapy involves treating the cancer by inserting radioactive sources directly into the gland.

  • High-dose-rate prostate implants deliver radiation to the prostate with a few treatments using a single small radioactive iridium source on the end of a computer controlled flexible wire. The radiation is delivered through narrow tubes called catheters inserted into the prostate by your radiation oncologist.

Depending on your cancer, prostate brachytherapy may be combined with external beam radiation therapy.

Hormone Therapy

Depending on your cancer, you may benefit from adding hormone therapy to radiation.

  • Works by starving the tumor of the male hormones it needs to grow. This may make your radiation therapy treatments work better.
  • May be used together with radiation therapy or before radiation to shrink the tumor.
Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter Subscribe to Our Videos on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Connect with Us on LinkedIn Follow us on Pinterest Follow us on Flickr Follow us on Sharecare
  • UCLA Health
  • School of Medicine
  • School of Nursing
  • UCLA Campus
  • Directory
  • Newsroom
  • Publications
  • Giving
  • Careers
  • Volunteer
  • Privacy Practices
  • Nondiscrimination
  • Emergency
  • Smoke-Free
  • Terms of Use
  • 1-800-UCLA-MD1
  • Maps & Directions
  • Contact Us
  • Report Broken Links
  • Sitemap
Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter Subscribe to Our Videos on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Connect with Us on LinkedIn Follow us on Pinterest Follow us on Flickr Follow us on Sharecare