To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: OncoSeed Treats Prostate Cancer Effectively, With Low Incidence Of Side Effects URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/156AB2.htm Doctor's Guide January 10, 2000
PRINCETON, NJ -- January 10, 2000 -- Nycomed Amersham Imaging, the leader in in vivo diagnostic imaging and a leading provider of radiotherapy products, announced that a seven-year study conducted at Yale University School of Medicine demonstrates that patients receiving the company's OncoSeed(TM) iodine-125 (I-125) seed implants experienced a low incidence of side effects. The results of this peer-reviewed study appear in the October 29, 1999, issue of Radiation Oncology Investigations: Clinical and Basic Research. The study also reported a review of the literature covering 992 patients implanted with I-125 seeds (Drs. Beyer, Blasko, Hu, Kaye and Peschel). These studies conclude that current prostate implant programs are highly successful, with extremely low complication rates from I-125 seed implants when compared to other treatment modalities. Although a low incidence of reported side effects is desirable, this needs to be coupled with clinical evidence of disease-free survival. While the Yale study reports on some theoretical radiobiological differences between I-125 and palladium-103 (Pd-103) it notes that long-term, prospective studies comparing efficacy of the two agents have yet to be carried out. However, I-125 seeds have been more extensively researched. Additionally OncoSeed is the only seed for which peer-reviewed, published ten-year survival data are available. The publication of this benchmark ten-year disease-free survival data is crucial to men when making decisions about prostate cancer treatment options. This study, headed by Haakon Ragde, M.D., of the Pacific Northwest Cancer Foundation in Seattle, was published in the journal Cancer in the fall of 1998. With OncoSeed, Nycomed Amersham Imaging not only provides the world's most extensively used prostate implant seed; they lead the way in adopting industry and government standards. In July 1999 Nycomed Amersham announced that OncoSeed was traceable to the 1999 National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) standard, changing from the longstanding 1985 NIST standard. "We recognize that it is our responsibility, as the industry leader, to provide hospital physicists and physicians with the most accurate information possible," said Daniel L. Peters, President of Nycomed Amersham Imaging in the Americas. "Providing them with the assurance that they will deliver exactly the dose prescribed by the physician to effectively treat the patient's prostate cancer." Although a NIST standard does exist for Pd-103, manufacturers of this agent have, as yet, been unable to adopt it. In addition to OncoSeed, Nycomed Amersham Imaging also markets their proprietary RAPID Strand(TM) product for prostate brachytherapy. With RAPID Strand, OncoSeed seeds are distributed in a rigid, absorbable suture material. RAPID Strand permits even placement of seeds, and holds them in position, facilitating the optimal delivery of the therapeutic radiation dose. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.