St. Luke’s Cancer Center announced it has added a pretreatment option, Space­OAR Hydrogel - the first and only FDA-cleared spacer to help reduce the radiation dose delivered to the rectum of men undergoing radiation treatment for prostate cancer.

SpaceOAR is aimed at reducing rectal complications and helping patients to maintain their quality of life after radiation treatment.

SpaceOAR Hydrogel is an absorbable gel inserted via a minimally invasive procedure that creates a temporary space between the prostate and the rectum - allowing the doctor to complement the patient’s radiation treatment to better target their cancer while preserving healthy tissue. The hydrogel spacer remains in place for about three months.

Nimisha Deb, MD, Chief of Radiation Oncology for St. Luke’s, said, “We understand that men diagnosed with prostate cancer may have some difficult decisions to make, but knowing that an option like SpaceOAR Hydrogel can help limit the risk of damage to other organs during radiation treatment will hopefully make a few of those decisions easier.”

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men, with more than 183,000 new cases diagnosed each year.

“We are recommending Space­OAR Hydrogel for many of our prostate cancer patients,” said Dr. Richard Lieberman, urologist with St. Luke’s University Health Network.