Sometimes the answer is in your own backyard — or very close by.

When Garret Ihler of Bainbridge Island learned last March that he had prostate cancer, he went looking for the best possible treatment. As a former professor of medicine at Texas A&M University, he recalled reading something about a new procedure called SpaceOAR on a website called MedPage. So he began researching where he could get that treatment.

He found the answer just minutes away at the Peninsula Cancer Center in Poulsbo.

“I called and got in immediately to see Dr. Hsi,” Ihler recalled.

Dr. R. Alex Hsi, a radiation oncologist and co-founder of Peninsula Cancer Center, met with Ihler and when Ihler mentioned the new treatment, Hsi was stunned.

“I nearly fell out of my chair,” said Hsi. “I asked him, ‘How did you know about that?’”

The physician was surprised because he had just finished taking part in medical trials using SpaceOAR. The product had just been approved for more widespread use by the Federal Drug Administration.

“It wasn’t really out there yet and I was shocked that Garret had heard of it,” Hsi said.

The procedure is a spacing device which separates the prostate and the rectum so that the rectum is protected from receiving high doses of radiation.

Because of the close proximity of the prostate to the rectum, prostate radiation therapy typically results in some radiation hitting the rectum, which can have negative side effects such as diarrhea, irritable bowels and incontinence.

According to Hsi, the SpaceOAR system creates space with a hydrogel that pushes the rectum away from the prostate and the higher radiation dose area.

The hydrogel spacer maintains the space until the radiation treatments are completed, usually from six months to a year. And then it liquefies and is absorbed and cleared from the body in the patient’s urine.

SpaceOAR is a trademarked product of the Augmenix company of Waltham, Massachusetts.

Because of his experience in treating prostate cancers, Hsi was chosen as the only radiologist on the West Coast to take part in the clinical trials of the product.

The trials, which took place in 2012 and 2013, included 222 patients, of which two of three were given the SpaceOAR. The patients were followed for 18 months and their success rates of not having side effects meant the FDA gave the go-ahead for use in any patient with prostate cancer.

“It reduces the high dose of radiation to the rectum by about 75 percent,” Hsi said. “We’re talking about something that’s only about a centimeter of space. But that’s a big deal in my world.”

Currently there are only six places in the U.S. where doctors have been trained to administer the product.

Ihler’s prostate cancer was found when he was having a routine examination including an MRI because he had previously had bladder cancer.

“They found a hot spot in my bladder and they removed it surgically,” he said. “But, routinely, I am checked and that’s how this came up.”

He said a biopsy showed prostate cancer, and he was told it needed to be treated. He found, however, that surgery wasn’t an option, so he decided to have radiation.

Ihler, who is 75, said he routinely gets email notifications from the MedPage website and recalled reading about the use of a spacing device during radiation to the prostate that protected the rectum.

“I knew I’d read something about the FDA approving this,” he said. “To me, it seemed like a no-brainer and I wanted to try it.”

He first contacted the University of Washington Medical Center, but then learned that Hsi was using the SpaceOAR in Poulsbo.

“For me, it’s great to have it so close by,” Ihler said. “I can get my treatments without having to take a ferry to Seattle.”

In all, he will have 44 five-minute doses of radiation. He’s had 27 and has 17 more to go. Thus far, he’s feeling good and the placement of the SpaceOAR was done while he was under anesthesia, so he had no pain with that.

“I haven’t had any serious problems yet,” he said. “I just do what the physicians tell me to and I feel I’m in good hands. I don’t second-guess them.”

Ihler is one of two patients that Hsi has used the procedure on since it was approved by the FDA. Ihler, who had Medicare and a Medicare supplemental insurance, isn’t sure if the procedure will be covered, but he’s not concerned about that now. He’s just working on winning his battle with cancer.

Having been in the medical field, Ihler knows he may be a bit more “in tune” with medical advancements.

But he said, every patient needs to play a part in their own treatment decisions and recovery from any illness.

Ilher and his wife, Liisa Peterson, have lived on Bainbridge since 2005, when he retired from teaching. They have family in the area and knew they wanted to retire here.

“I feel good,” he said. “I’ve had no complications yet from any of the treatments.”

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in men in the U.S. About one in seven men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime.

Advancement in treatment technologies are improving cure rates and reducing side effects, according to Hsi.