A retrospective study reported about the benefits and late toxicity following an injection of a hydrogel spacer (HS) between the prostate and rectum for men treated with radiotherapy.
The study, which included 76 men with a clinical stage of T1-T3a prostate cancer underwent general anesthesia for fiducial marker insertion plus injection of the Hydrogel Spacer (HS) into the peri-rectal space before intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) or volumetric modulated radiation therapy (VMAT). The researchers evaluated the safety, benefits and the immediate to long-term effects of gastrointestinal toxicity.
HS is used to move the rectum away from the prostate gland with the goal of limiting any damage to the rectum from “stray” radiation.
They concluded that injection of HS resulted in a reduction of irradiated rectal dose volumes along with minimal GI toxicities; irrespective of prostate size
BJU international. 2018 Mar 09 [Epub ahead of print]
Michael Chao, Huong Ho, Yee Chan, Alwin Tan, Trung Pham, Damien Bolton, Andrew Troy, Catherine Temelcos, Shomik Sengupta, Kevin McMillan, Chee Wee Cham, Madalena Liu, Wei Ding, Brindha Subramanian, Jason Wasiak, Daryl Lim Joon, Sandra Spencer, Nathan Lawrenstchuk
Pub Med http://www.ncbi.nim.nih.gov/pubmed/29520983
Joel T. Nowak, MA, MSW wrote this Post. Joel is the CEO/Executive Director of Cancer ABCs. He is a Cancer Thriver diagnosed with five primary cancers - Thyroid, Metastatic Prostate, Renal, Melanoma, and the rare cancer Appendiceal cancer.
