New Device to Benefit Prostate Cancer Patients Undergoing Radiation Treatment at Wilmot Cancer Institute, Highland Hospital

Highland Hospital becomes first in the area to use SpaceOAR for prostate cancer patients

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

UR Medicine’s Wilmot Cancer Institute at Highland Hospital is the first in the Rochester region to offer the SpaceOAR System to shield healthy tissues and reduce complications from high-dose radiation treatments for prostate cancer.

Radiation therapy is a common treatment for prostate cancer, which affects 1 in 7 men during their lifetime according to the American Cancer Society. The close proximity of the prostate to the rectum makes it challenging to deliver adequate radiation doses without risking injury to the rectum. SpaceOAR, which stands for Spacing Organs at Risk, is a temporary hydrogel spacer that is injected between the prostate and the rectum to protect the rectum and allow effective doses of radiation to be given.

Hong Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of Radiation Oncology at Highland Hospital, was instrumental in bringing this innovation to Highland. Dr. Zhang and her team were involved in the multi-center, randomized clinical trials of SpaceOAR, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared for use in April.

“I want to first thank our patients who participated in the SpaceOAR clinical trial,” Zhang said. “They are heroes who have helped change the way patients will be treated in the future. With the support of Highland Hospital, we are excited to introduce this new method to patients with prostate cancer throughout greater Rochester.”

The goal is to use SpaceOAR with most prostate cancer patients who require radiation therapy and do not have medical conditions that may prohibit them from being injected with the hydrogel.

For a visualization of how the SpaceOAR® works, visit http://www.spaceoar.com/what-is-spaceoar/.