I had SpaceOAR Vue injected - it’s an enhanced version of the standard SpaceOAR Hydrogel - as additional insurance against rectal tissue injury.

Was it absolutely necessary? Of course not. But, that additional 1.3cm of “insurance” (see attached image) provided a 70% reduction of radiation to my rectum. (Minimizing potential side-effects of treatment was important to me.) My RO had never used SpaceOAR before, but my argument for using it was stronger than his argument for not using it; so, we did.

The value of rectal spacers has been demonstrated in clinical trials. There are no contraindications from the gel itself. (You can read additional information here: https://contentstaging.spaceoar.com/assets/LCN-80-3101-001-en-Rev-D_SpaceOAR-System-10mL-IFU-CAN.pdf)

At a recent PCRI conference, even though Dr. Rossi is talking about using SpaceOAR with proton radiation in his presentation, the rationale is similar when using IMRT: https://www.youtube.com/live/WTqPnSRYtW4
—> Starting at 4:49:45: Proton & Hydrogel.

Like I said earlier, my RO had never treated using SpaceOAR before; he had always used endorectal balloons. But, I insisted and personally reached out to Boston Scientific (the manufacturer of SpaceOAR) myself to get my RO in touch with them. We even had to find a local urologist with experience injecting it. The time it took to get the product in and find an experienced urologist to inject it was only a matter of a few weeks. (So, I didn’t have to go elsewhere; I had the product brought to them.)

There were no hurt feelings here. My RO and I had a very good doctor-patient professional relationship. We discussed all aspects of treatment, and involved shared decision-making throughout.

Ultimately, you’re the one who will have to live with the treatment outcome (not them), so it’s your call.

Good luck!