NICE Announces Interventional Procedure Guidance Supporting Use of Hydrogel Spacer in Treatment of Prostate Cancer in the UK

Description

BEDFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Augmenix, Inc., a medical technology company that develops, manufactures, and sells proprietary absorbable hydrogels that separate and protect organs at risk during radiotherapy, today announced that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK has issued Interventional Procedure Guidance (IPG) supporting the use of a hydrogel barrier to reduce the risk of toxicity to surrounding tissue in radiotherapy to treat prostate cancer. The guidance recommends use of hydrogel spacers under "standard arrangements". For a procedure to be recommended for use with standard arrangements (previously called “normal arrangements”) the evidence should be adequate to show safety and efficacy of the procedure both in the long term and short term. NICE’s guidance clearly indicates that this procedure meets the highest evidence standards.

Our goal in the management of prostate cancer is to identify the most effective treatment options for each patient, and we always have to keep in mind their concerns about side effects that can affect their health and quality of life,” said Dr. Suneil Jain, Senior Lecturer and Consultant in Clinical Oncology at Queen’s University Belfast. “With SpaceOAR Hydrogel, we have a proven safe option to help address some of the most important concerns that patients have about radiotherapy, including bowel toxicity and loss of sexual function.”