SpaceOAR Spares Healthy Tissue During Prostate Radiation Therapy

If you or someone you love has recently received a prostate cancer diagnosis, you may be feeling overwhelmed. Rest assured that prostate cancer is highly treatable, with many treatment options. At Northwest Cancer Clinic, we strive to be at the forefront of radiation technology and use tools like the SpaceOAR Vue to give our patients the best treatment available. If you are looking for a clinic at the forefront of innovation, know that we are one of the only clinics using tools like the SpaceOAR for prostate radiation therapy in Kennewick.

SpaceOAR Spares Healthy Tissue

What is the SpaceOAR?

The “OAR” in SpaceOAR stands for “organ at risk.” When delivering radiation therapy to the prostate, it’s important to minimize damage to surrounding healthy tissue, and the SpaceOAR helps make space between the prostate and the closest organ to it, the rectum.

The SpaceOAR is not a device that physically spreads apart the prostate and the rectum. It is a hydrogel, a soft gel-like synthetic material mostly made up of water. This hydrogel is safe to use in the body. Before treatment begins, the hydrogel is injected between the rectum and the prostate in a minimally invasive procedure that takes less than 30 minutes.

How Does it Work?

When treating prostate cancer with radiation therapy, it’s crucial to target the cancer cells without harming nearby healthy tissue. The hydrogel helps reduce the amount of radiation the rectum receives, helping to minimize side effects.

In addition to making space between the rectum and prostate, the hydrogel provides more visibility on a CT scan, allowing for more precise treatment. We’ve upgraded how we use the SpaceOAR for prostate radiation therapy in Kennewick by switching from the SpaceOAR hydrogel to the SpaceOAR Vue hydrogel, which provides even more visibility. More visibility reduces the need for a post-implant MRI, which may reduce overall costs for patients. It also makes the SpaceOAR hydrogel a good option for patients with implanted metallic devices near the prostate which could distort MRI images.

After treatments are finished, around six months after the hydrogel is inserted, it will be naturally absorbed by the body. Radiation treatments will be well over by this time, and it is completely safe to participate in normal activities.

Without SpaceOAR Hydrogel

Without the presence of SpaceOAR Hydrogel, high dose radiation is more likely to reach the rectum.

With SpaceOAR Hydrogel

SpaceOAR Hydrogel provides space between the rectum and the prostate, reducing high dose radiation to the rectum.

Why Choose SpaceOAR

By using the SpaceOAR for prostate radiation therapy in Kennewick, patients experience fewer uncomfortable side effects that can come with treatment such as bowel issues, improving their quality of life during and after treatment. Patients may experience some discomfort at the hydrogel injection site, but this is generally a short-lived symptom and patients can immediately resume normal activities after injection.

At Northwest Cancer Clinic, we aim to provide compassionate and precise care for the best outcomes possible, which is why we use the SpaceOAR for prostate radiation therapy in Kennewick. Using the SpaceOAR hydrogel helps our radiation oncologist, Dr. Juno Choe, deliver the necessary doses of radiation to the prostate with more precision. Not only does this help reduce side effects and protect healthy tissue, but it can also make treatment more effective overall.