Although proton radiation treatment has been available for more than 50 years, many clinical applications are still in their infancy.
Other countries like Sweden, Japan, Russia and others have been providing proton radiation treatment since the early 1950's, it wasn't until technology advanced to the point that doctors could more precisely deliver it to the patient, that the United States evolved.
In 1990, Loma Linda University became the first proton center within a hospital setting. Since that time, facilities have opened at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Midwest Proton Raditherapy Institute in Bloomington, Inidana, MD Anderson Medcial Center in Houston, Texas, and Shands Hosptial in Jacksonville, Florida.
There are at least seven more facilities currently in the planning or building stage.
Massachusetts Technology Institute has even developed room-sized facilitites that will make it possible for many other communitites to afford this amazing technology.
The "gold standard" has been open prostatectomy for many years, but that's all about to change. In fact, in my mind, it already has changed. Proton Beam Therapy could very well become the new "gold standard".
I write on Monday about a great opportunity I was pesented with last week.
Have a good weekend.
Blessings,
Rick
Friday, June 12, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Pediatric Neoplasms
The things first you may be asking yourself. "What the heck is a neoplasm?" I know that because that was my first question when I began to read about it too.
A neoplasm is an abnormal mass of tissue as a result of neoplasia. That should clear it up, right?
Now, what's a neoplasia? It's an abnormal proliferation of cells that have leads going every which direction and are often cancerous, although not always.
The following from Technology in Cancer Research and Treatment, Volume 5, Number 2, April 2006.
In a study of patients having progressive or recurrent low-grade astrocytoma, proton radiation therapy was generally well tolerated and all children who achieved local control maintained their performance status. (Astrocytoma is cancer of the brain that originate in star-shaped brain cells called astrocytes). This outcome prevailed in a study of children treated with protons for optic-pathway glioma, a neoplasm for which adequate therapy offers excellent long-term survival rates, making it especially important to avoid treatment-related functional long-term sequelae. A comparison of proton, 3D photon, and lateral photon treatment plans revealed that the proton plans offered a high degree of conformity to target volumes, with steep dose gradients, leading to substantial normal-tissue sparing. Notably, we observed that even in small tumors, conformity of 3D photon irradiation was achieved only at the expense of a larger volume of normal tissues receiving moderate to low radiation doses.
One of the pieces of information that I received from my radiation/oncologist at MPRI was that he could take a tumor off the optic nerve and maintain the eyesight of the patient. I figured that if proton beam was that precise, that he could treat my prostate and leave other organs untouched. I was right.
Tomorrow I'll close this thread of posts with information about the future direction of proton beam therapy.
Have a good Wednesday.
Blessings,
Rick
A neoplasm is an abnormal mass of tissue as a result of neoplasia. That should clear it up, right?
Now, what's a neoplasia? It's an abnormal proliferation of cells that have leads going every which direction and are often cancerous, although not always.
The following from Technology in Cancer Research and Treatment, Volume 5, Number 2, April 2006.
In a study of patients having progressive or recurrent low-grade astrocytoma, proton radiation therapy was generally well tolerated and all children who achieved local control maintained their performance status. (Astrocytoma is cancer of the brain that originate in star-shaped brain cells called astrocytes). This outcome prevailed in a study of children treated with protons for optic-pathway glioma, a neoplasm for which adequate therapy offers excellent long-term survival rates, making it especially important to avoid treatment-related functional long-term sequelae. A comparison of proton, 3D photon, and lateral photon treatment plans revealed that the proton plans offered a high degree of conformity to target volumes, with steep dose gradients, leading to substantial normal-tissue sparing. Notably, we observed that even in small tumors, conformity of 3D photon irradiation was achieved only at the expense of a larger volume of normal tissues receiving moderate to low radiation doses.
One of the pieces of information that I received from my radiation/oncologist at MPRI was that he could take a tumor off the optic nerve and maintain the eyesight of the patient. I figured that if proton beam was that precise, that he could treat my prostate and leave other organs untouched. I was right.
Tomorrow I'll close this thread of posts with information about the future direction of proton beam therapy.
Have a good Wednesday.
Blessings,
Rick
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
From page 85 of Technology in Cancer Research and Treatment, Volume 5, Number 2, April 2006 about adenocarcinoma of the prostate; we reviewed results in a large number of patients, treated to 74-75 GyE and followed for periods of up to 12 years. The overall 10 year biochemical disease-free survival rate in this series of 1,255 patients was 73% and was 90% in patients with initial PSA levels of 4.0 or less.
When I was treated at Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute (MPRI) in Bloomington, IN. , I received 79 Gy of radiation. Loma Linda analyzed disease free survival rates from more than 1,000 patients treated with conformal proton radiotherapy to determine whether a difference in outcome supervened for patients younger than 60 years of age versus those older. They found no statistically significant difference; rather, their analysis confirmed the well-known statistically significant predictors of outcome: pretreatment PSA level, clinical stage at diagnosis, and Gleason score. They concluded that age should not be used in and of itself to recommend one type of treatment over another for men with prostate cancer.
They have since determined that they are able to deliver a higher dose of proton radiation. They studied 393 patients with stage T1b through T2b prostate cancer and PSA levels less than 15 ng/ml. The median age was 67 years old and the median PSA was 6.3 ng/ml. The median follow up was 5.5 years. A randomized group of patients received a combination of conformal photon (x-ray) and proton beams, to a total dose of 70.2 Gy. Sixty one percent of these patients were free from biochemical failure at 5 years, as opposed to 80% of those receiving treatment at a higher dose of 79.2 Gy.
They continue to work to achieve disease free outcomes through proton beam therapy.
Tomorrow we’ll cover Pediatric Neoplasms.
Have a good Monday.
Blessings,
Rick
When I was treated at Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute (MPRI) in Bloomington, IN. , I received 79 Gy of radiation. Loma Linda analyzed disease free survival rates from more than 1,000 patients treated with conformal proton radiotherapy to determine whether a difference in outcome supervened for patients younger than 60 years of age versus those older. They found no statistically significant difference; rather, their analysis confirmed the well-known statistically significant predictors of outcome: pretreatment PSA level, clinical stage at diagnosis, and Gleason score. They concluded that age should not be used in and of itself to recommend one type of treatment over another for men with prostate cancer.
They have since determined that they are able to deliver a higher dose of proton radiation. They studied 393 patients with stage T1b through T2b prostate cancer and PSA levels less than 15 ng/ml. The median age was 67 years old and the median PSA was 6.3 ng/ml. The median follow up was 5.5 years. A randomized group of patients received a combination of conformal photon (x-ray) and proton beams, to a total dose of 70.2 Gy. Sixty one percent of these patients were free from biochemical failure at 5 years, as opposed to 80% of those receiving treatment at a higher dose of 79.2 Gy.
They continue to work to achieve disease free outcomes through proton beam therapy.
Tomorrow we’ll cover Pediatric Neoplasms.
Have a good Monday.
Blessings,
Rick
Monday, June 8, 2009
Happy 35th Anniversary
I know that I wrote on Friday we’d be covering prostate cancer treatment with proton beam today, but I’d like to take today’s post and go a different way. Prostate cancer will be covered tomorrow.
I’d like to tell everyone reading this, that my wife and I are celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary today.
Mary Ann and I have been through a lot over these 35 years of marriage. We have been blessed with 4 children, two girls and 2 boys. We’ve also been blessed with 6 grandchildren, 5 girls, Lauren (5), Christina (4), Megan (3), Keira (3) and Hannah (1),and our newest, Noah, born May 28th. We have two sons-in-law and a daughter-in-law that we were very pleased to welcome into our family.
We’ve been through strikes at my employment at which we survived on $65 per week strike pay. We have many memories of God’s hand blessing us during those tough 8 months.
We have had many happy moments through the years. I consider the birth of our children and grandchildren to be some of the happiest. I remember looking out of the window when our first child was born in 1975 and wondering why traffic was still traveling on the Interstate. Didn’t they know that the world had just changed? A new baby had just been born and I thought that they should be stopped to pay tribute.
The death of one of our children, Brian, in April 2001, would indeed change our lives forever.
NOTE TO MARY ANN:
In February 2005 you began this trek with me with prostate cancer. You have understood as I chose proton beam therapy, even though it would mean me being away Monday through Friday for 9 weeks. Your support and care has helped me through. Thankfully protons spared you from doing some of the procedures that some wives are called on to do for their husbands who choose other treatment options.
Through all of our highs and lows, God has blessed us with just what we needed at that point to get us to this day. In our world, 35 years of marriage may be odd, but we have made it and I look forward to many more years of marriage with you. I love you so much today as we celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. Thank you for taking a chance on me. I know there have been times when I disappointed you, but I hope that the good times have overshadowed the not so good days.
Happy 35th Anniversary
Love,
Rick
P.S. Let’s do dinner out. I’ll have my people call your people.
I’d like to tell everyone reading this, that my wife and I are celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary today.
Mary Ann and I have been through a lot over these 35 years of marriage. We have been blessed with 4 children, two girls and 2 boys. We’ve also been blessed with 6 grandchildren, 5 girls, Lauren (5), Christina (4), Megan (3), Keira (3) and Hannah (1),and our newest, Noah, born May 28th. We have two sons-in-law and a daughter-in-law that we were very pleased to welcome into our family.
We’ve been through strikes at my employment at which we survived on $65 per week strike pay. We have many memories of God’s hand blessing us during those tough 8 months.
We have had many happy moments through the years. I consider the birth of our children and grandchildren to be some of the happiest. I remember looking out of the window when our first child was born in 1975 and wondering why traffic was still traveling on the Interstate. Didn’t they know that the world had just changed? A new baby had just been born and I thought that they should be stopped to pay tribute.
The death of one of our children, Brian, in April 2001, would indeed change our lives forever.
NOTE TO MARY ANN:
In February 2005 you began this trek with me with prostate cancer. You have understood as I chose proton beam therapy, even though it would mean me being away Monday through Friday for 9 weeks. Your support and care has helped me through. Thankfully protons spared you from doing some of the procedures that some wives are called on to do for their husbands who choose other treatment options.
Through all of our highs and lows, God has blessed us with just what we needed at that point to get us to this day. In our world, 35 years of marriage may be odd, but we have made it and I look forward to many more years of marriage with you. I love you so much today as we celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. Thank you for taking a chance on me. I know there have been times when I disappointed you, but I hope that the good times have overshadowed the not so good days.
Happy 35th Anniversary
Love,
Rick
P.S. Let’s do dinner out. I’ll have my people call your people.
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