We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

MedImaging

Download Mobile App
Recent News Radiography MRI Ultrasound Nuclear Medicine General/Advanced Imaging Imaging IT Industry News

Injectable Spacer Preserves Bowels During Prostate Radiotherapy

By MedImaging International staff writers
Posted on 20 Oct 2016
A novel hydrogel rectal spacer used during radiotherapy (RT) for prostate cancer results in significantly less rectal toxicity and urinary incontinence, according to a new study.

Researchers at Texas Oncology (Irving, USA) reported the three-year follow-up results from a phase III trial in patients with low-intermediate risk prostate cancer who were injected with the SpaceOAR, an absorbable hydrogel rectal spacer that separates the rectum from the prostate during RT to potentially reduce the risk of adjacent organ-at-risk (OAR) injury. The researchers examined the cumulative incidence of toxicity and mean changes in quality of life (QoL) summary scores, based on previously established thresholds.

Image: The SpaceOAR system benefits (Photo courtesy of Augmenix).
Image: The SpaceOAR system benefits (Photo courtesy of Augmenix).

Three-year results showed that grade 1+ rectal toxicity incidence in patients with the SpaceOAR was just 2%, compared with 90% in controls. Incidence of grade 2+ rectal toxicity was 6% in the controls, with no cases of grade 2+ toxicity reported in those receiving SpaceOAR spacer. Grade 1+ urinary incontinence was lower in patients with the spacer (4%) than in controls (15%), but there was no difference in grade 2+ urinary effects between groups. The study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), held during September 2016 in Boston (MA, USA).

“The distance between the prostate and rectum is typically 1-2 mm; a trans-perineal procedure can be used to place the hydrogel device between the prostate and the rectum, increasing the distance to approximately 1 cm, thus putting the rectum out of harm's way during radiotherapy,” said lead author and study presenter Daniel Hamstra, MD, PhD. “Rectal dosimetry was tremendously better after placement of the hydrogel spacer, and what this correlated with was a decrease in rectal toxicity. We saw significant and dramatic relative reductions of rectal dosimetry at all levels assessed.”

The SpaceOAR system, a product of Augmenix (Waltham, MA, USA), is a temporary hydrogel injected through the perineum, guided by transrectal ultrasound. The material flows into the space between the prostate and the rectum and expands within ten seconds, reducing rectum radiation during prostate RT. Shielding the rectum also permits dose escalation and hypo-fractionation, resulting in more prostate radiation, improved cancer kill rates, and fewer radiation treatment sessions. The hydrogel remains in place for three months and is then liquefied and absorbed, leaving nothing behind.

Related Links:
Texas Oncology
Augmenix

Gold Member
Solid State Kv/Dose Multi-Sensor
AGMS-DM+
Under Table Shield
3 Section Double Pivot Under Table Shield
New
Color Doppler Ultrasound System
KC20
New
DR Flat Panel Detector
1500L

Latest Nuclear Medicine News

AI System Automatically and Reliably Detects Cardiac Amyloidosis Using Scintigraphy Imaging

Early 30-Minute Dynamic FDG-PET Acquisition Could Halve Lung Scan Times

New Method for Triggering and Imaging Seizures to Help Guide Epilepsy Surgery