The prostate cancer devices market is growing due to increase in aging population and increase in research and development in oncology therapeutic area. Limited players in the market and increasing pharmaceutical expenditure by emerging markets are some of the factors providing ample opportunities to the prostate cancer devices market to grow at a considerable rate in the coming years. Adoption of robotic prostatectomy is one of the major trends seen in the prostate cancer devices market.
Prostate cancer mostly occurs in men and generally found in the prostate gland. The main function of the prostate gland is to create seminal fluid that transports and nourishes sperm. The prostate cancer typically occurs in men aged more than 65 years. Most prostate cancers grow slowly and the disease exhibits no early symptoms. While prostate cancer is a serious disease, but early diagnosis of the prostate cancer can raise the chances of survival for the patients.
Some of the ways to diagnose prostate cancer are prostate biopsy, digital rectal exam, pet and spect scans, ultrasound, prostascint monoclonal antibody scan, prostate-specific antigen blood test, lymph node biopsy, CT scan, MRI, and bone scan. The causes by which the prostate cancer occurs are, diet or lifestyle factors, age, infection or inflammation of the prostate gland, family history or genetics, obesity, and race. Stages of prostate cancer are categorized as stage I, stage II, stage III and stage IV.
On the basis of products, the prostate cancer devices market can be categorized as chemotherapy, hormonal therapy and immunotherapy. Chemotherapy consists of mitoxantrone, taxotere, estramustine and jevtana. Hormonal therapy consists of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone antagonists, anti-androgens and luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone analogs. Luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone analogs include decapeptyl, lupron, vantas, zoladex and eligard.
The prostate cancer devices market can be categorized on the basis of applications as external beam radiation therapy, radical prostatectomy, cryotherapy, high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), robotic surgery, brachytherapy and laparoscopic surgery. Brachytherapy, also known as internal radiotherapy, is an emerging early stage treatment option for prostate cancer. In the treatment, radioactive sources or seeds are placed near the tumor to give out a high radiation dose to the tumor. Simultaneously, the radioactive seeds decrease the radiation contact in the surrounding healthy tissues.
Some of the factors driving the growth of the prostate cancer devices market are developments in genomics and proteomics, and innovative drugs inventions. Some of the factors such as oncology being the largest therapeutic market with high unmet needs and off label prescription for prostate cancer are acting as the opportunities for the prostate cancer devices market to grow by a more significant rate in the coming years. Whereas, cost associated with the treatment, complications of prostate cancer surgeries and low success rate in clinical testing for oncology drugs are some of the factors restraining the growth of the prostate cancer devices market. C.R. Bard Inc., a manufacturer, designer, seller and distributor of surgical, medical, patient care, and diagnostic devices, is one of the major companies that offer brachytherapy products. The company’s brachytherapy product portfolio includes palladium 103 and iodine 125 seeds. Palladium 103 and iodine 125 have been significantly used in prostate implant brachytherapy from many years.
Some of the competitors in the prostate cancer devices market are Varian Medical Systems, Inc., Galil Medical Inc., Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Elekta AB, Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG, Siemens Healthcare, and Philips Healthcare.