Space OAR Hydrogel by Augmenix Pharmaceuticals

TMoore

I am supposed to get cyberknife for intermediate risk prostate cancer (Gleason 3 + 4 = 7) and one radiation oncologist recommended Space OAR as standard in his practice and a second radiation oncologist said he never uses Space OAR because in over 5 years of doing cyberknife he has never had a patient who developed serious rectal side effects and the risks from the injection going into the bladder, prostate, or rectum by accident, with those side effects from accidental injection into a nearby orgain instead of just the space between the prostate and rectum, are worse than the side effects of any radiation exposure to the rectum.

Have any of you had experience with being treated with Space OAR before doing cyberknife for prostate cancer?

Old Salt

Save yourself some dough

The RO that headed my CK team (over 1000 procedures) didn't think it was necessary. Which is not to say you might not encounter some rectal bleeding and/or irritation, but this typically resolves by itself or can be treated. I did encounter just that, but I am still typing, and the side effects are gone.

What really matters is the expertise of the team that plans and executes the CK sessions.

Regulator

I'll be interested in future

I'll be interested in future responses to this question as well. I'm scheduled for LDR-BBT in September, and my RO (with a purported 3,000 procedures under his belt), has proposed the use of Space OAR gel.

SantaZia

SpaceOar

The SpaceOar injection gel may be done by any certified provider even if your radiation therapy will be done by another provider.  I am doing that, Most university-based cancer centers are using the SpaceOar.  The research I have read indicated it may reduce GI and ED and even GU impact. Good Luck!

VascodaGama

Spacer Hydrogel

We have discussed on the Hydrogel here before. Here are two links on experiences reported by survivors;

 https://csn.cancer.org/node/257537

https://csn.cancer.org/node/311325

https://www.livescience.com/52184-novel-gel-protects-colon-from-radiation-treatment.html

VG

fullmoon50

Husband Had SpaceOar

Hello to all!

My husband just finished 39 EBRT last week. We discussed SpaceOar in advance with his RO at a major cancer center. To our surprise, he said he found it to be a hard sell for most of his patients. He also said that he hadn’t seen any cases of radiation proctitis since he was a resident in the 1990’s.

But he agreed to use it because we thought the risks were minimal and we had no co-insurance to pay. (The most amazing part of the whole process!)

The only issue was that my husband had already had his mapping done and that had to be repeated after the hydrogel was in place. My husband was amused by the size of his audience for the insertion as this happened at a teaching hospital. He had minimal discomfort both during and after the procedure. He barely felt the sense of some pressure afterwards that he had been warned about. He tolerated the procedure well, just as he had no issues with the prostate biopsy.

There‘s no way to tell yet if the SpaceOar made a difference. He had only a few bouts of very manageable diarrhea during his radiation treatments. (Same with irritated bladder issues) I think we’ll only know the hydrogel efficacy down the line if and when any long term side effects happen. 

Good luck with the cyber knife, T! Let us know how you’re doing.

Cyberguy

Didn't work for me

I had duraseal which is similar to space oar. CK Dr. Could not identify vital anatomy and spacer gel limited ability to see clearly on CT where prostate margins were located because gel was pressed up against prostate. I had to wait 8 weeks for gel to reabsorb and get new mri and CT. I'm getting last CK treatment tomorrow. My CK Dr also didn't think gel was necessary.