Pierre Blanchard, MD, PhD: What can hydrogel space provide to optimal prostate cancer care?

An ongoing study is assessing the clinical benefit of iodinated hydrogel spacer for perirectal spacing prior to treatment with stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for patients with prostate cancer may help elucidate how improvements to spacer products could reduce toxicity-related outcomes and, as a result, improve patient quality of life post-prostate cancer care.

The product in assessment—the SpaceOAR Vue system perirectal spacer, from Boston Scientific—is being observed in the SABRE trial for clinical endpoints including later gastrointestinal toxicity post-SBRT as well as decrease in 26-item Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC-26) score through 24 months.

In an interview with Urology Times while at the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) 2024 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, this week, study author Pierre Blanchard, MD, PhD, of the Gustave Roussy Cancer Center, discussed the investigated hydrogel spacer—an efficiently and transparently administered product that can be done under either general or local anesthesia.

“It's really well suited for SBRT treatment, which lasts one-and-a-half weeks, and compared to the previous version of the spacer, the Vue, has some iodine in it, which makes it very easy to see on CT,” Blanchard said. “So, for planning and during treatment, you actually see the gel, which was not the case for the previous version, for which you needed an MRI to see it.”

Blanchard discussed the key endpoints of focus in the SABRE including potentially reduced gastrointestinal toxicity—as well as the possibility of unpredicted benefits with hydrogel spacer for SBRT, including improvement in sexual function, as previously seen with the product.

“I think there are other potential benefits that we do not completely know, and we cannot predict,” Blanchard said. “So, we'll look at different kinds of toxicity, urinary sexual function, but we'll also look at patient-reported outcomes, because those are what matters more to patients, and also at the cost effectiveness of the product.”

References

1. ^{Blanchard P, Collins SP, Hedstrom B, Chaussee E, et al. Effectiveness of an Iodinated Perirectal Hydrogel Spacer for Prostate Cancer Treated with Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT): A Prospective, Multi-Center, Randomized Trial ("SABRE"). Poster presented at: American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) 2024 Annual Meeting. Washington, DC. September 29 – October 2, 2024.}
2. ^{Boston Scientific. SpaceOAR Vue™ System Perirectal Spacer for Prostate Radiation Therapy. Boston Scientific website. https://www.bostonscientific.com/us/en/healthcare-professionals/products/perirectal-hydrogel-spacers/spaceoar-vue-system-hydrogel-spacers/fp00000192.html. Accessed September 30, 2024.}