CANCER CENTER DEBUTS NEW TECHNOLOGY
Middlesex Hospital Cancer Center is now using the SpaceOAR System and the Deep Breath Inspiration Breath-Hold Technique at its locations in Middletown and Westbrook to improve patient outcomes and make radiation treatment safer.
The SpaceOAR System** helps prostate cancer patients; the Deep Inspiration Breath-Hold Technique helps patients with breast cancer. Prostate cancer is the No. 1 cancer in men, and breast cancer is the most common cancer in women.
SpaceOAR System
The SpaceOAR System keeps radiation from impacting normal tissue and organs that do not need treatment. It also allows prostate cancer patients to receive higher doses of radiation to treat their cancer. Treatment is more effective, and can be delivered over a shorter period of time, when higher doses are delivered.
Deep Inspiration
Breath-Hold Technique
The Deep Inspiration Breath-Hold Technique helps to keep radiation away from the heart for women with cancer in their left breast. The machine does so by synchronizing a patient’s breathing cycle. When there is a deep breath, the heart and breast tissue are further apart. As a result, radiation oncologists can send a beam of radiation toward the breast tissue without impacting the heart.
** SpaceOAR hydrogel is an option for men who undergo radiation treatment for prostate cancer. It acts as a spacer providing space between the rectum and the prostate, making it much less likely that the rectum is exposed to radiation. It is injected into place prior to the start of radiation treatment. Patients may be awake or asleep under general anesthesia for the procedure. SpaceOAR hydrogel is minimally invasive, remains stable during radiation therapy and then is gradually absorbed by the body after radiation therapy has been completed.
