A biodegradable balloon designed to significantly reduce rectal injury in prostate cancer patients facing radiation therapy performed well in an international Phase I clinical trial. Results ran recently in the Journal of Radiation Oncology. The balloon--made by Israel's BioProtect and carrying the same name as the company--expands to increase the space between the rectum and prostate. By doing so, it is intended to reduce radiation exposure and the 27-patient prospective trial appeared to bear this out. According to the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center, which was the first U.S. center to test the device, the balloon slashed the radiation dose to the rectum by an average 30%. BioProtect is CE marked and available in Europe. Item