My husband was treated for prostate cancer four years ago with a radioactive seed implant. Could this radiation cause a tremor of his hand now?
There are three possible biologic effects from the seed implants: • Scarring in the vicinity of the seeds. This is an unavoidable result of the acute inflammatory response occurring immediately after seed placement. However, it causes no (or only minor) clinically significant problems in virtually all patients. • A second cancer. This is a very rare possibility and would require several decades to develop. • Genetic effects, even rarer, in subsequent generations. If the patient has no more children, this effect cannot occur. Your husband’s hand tremor is almost certainly not caused by the seed implants.
