Misses the Mark…Big Time!!!

The Philadelphia Inquirer today, on April 29, 2012, carried a story by Harold Brubaker (hbrubaker@phillynews.com) that was a very negative account about proton beam treatment, in my opinion.

Entitled “Hospitals embrace proton-beam therapy“; [The Web edition emphasis is slightly different headline (?)] it contained a tagline in bold type that proclaimed “The high-tech cancer treatment has not been proven superior to cheaper alternatives” .

WELL!, It seemed like shoddy, shallow reporting, to me! He missed the mark in his nearly singular viewpoint that it isn’t a proven superior therapy and thus does not seem worth the money.

In fact, if one scrapes away the excess wordage, one sees that this story repeats, not too subtly, the conclusions put forth in last year’s ECRI report that argues the same point as this story’s sub-headline and little else of merit. Both seem to have missed major points.

He states categorically that Proton Therapy is claimed better because it can be aimed more precisely. That’s it, period, in his article.

That’s true enough, but less than half the major benefits and not the most significant! To me it sounds like the type of half truths that politicians use, as we have all seen in local TV ads.

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It’s now been more than six years since I had my Proton Radiotherapy at the IU Health Proton Therapy Center (formerly MPRI) for Stage II Prostate cancer and several interesting things have happened.

First: Not long after my last report in September 2011, I was contacted by the IU Health Proton Therapy Center and asked if I would like to tell a little of my story of treatment there in 2005 for their new website. So I did.They published it along with a link to this website. Thanks, Folks!

It is entitled “A Scientist Researches His Own Treatment Plan” (http://iuhealthprotontherapy.org/patient-stories/prostate-peacock/) and you can see on the page a reasonably recent photo of me at one of my favorite places, by the Reflecting Pool in front of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC where my wife and granddaughter, Danielle, and I went a few years ago during Cherry Blossom time. (I think Danielle actually took the picture – Great eye, Danielle!). Read more »

Last week I experienced a colonoscopy, the first since a few months prior to the time I had IMRT and PMRT therapy in Sept-Nov 2005 at HUP & MPRI, followed by a year of anti-antigen therapy at HUP.

The GI doc was aware of my radiation experiences and the Radiation Oncologist group at HUP had provided a written caution to him about need for care if it became necessary to take any biopsies. It wasn’t.

In addition, he reported that there was no visible evidence of any radiation damage that he could see in his travels around my colon.

Since everything else seems to be working almost like before my surgery in 2003 and radiation in 2005 and my PSA remains less than or equal to 0.1, I think I have experienced a Personal Best of Care & Treatment. I chalk up the results to the combination of a talented Urological Surgeon and my Proton radiation treatment.

IBA Proton Therapy World Locations

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN — According to the Medical PhysicsWeb News:at: medicalphysicsweb.org/cws/article/newsfeed/45412

March 17, 2011 – IBA announced today, during the signature ceremony held in Stockholm that Skandionkliniken, the first cancer center in Scandinavia dedicated to proton-beam treatments, has signed with IBA (Ion Beam Applications S.A.) a definitive contract to manufacture, install and maintain a new proton therapy system.

To be constructed in Uppsala, Sweden, Skandionkliniken continues that city’s rich history in the development of proton beam systems for medical use.

IBA contract with Skandionkliniken for the installation of the proton therapy system (2 patient treatment rooms and 1 research room) is valued between €50 million and €60 million, including a five-year service agreement.

Read the full release from IBA in : French – English (PDF downloads)

The Annual PTCOG 50 meeting in Philadelphia, PA to be held May 8-14, 2011 at the Marriott Philadelphia Downtown.

The purpose of this educational activity is to provide a good understanding of the physical and biological basics of ion therapy and to acquaint attendees with all new advancements and developments in particle therapy.

This activity has been designed for medical physicists, health physicists, radiation oncologists, oncologists in other disciplines, engineers, medical dosimetrists, dosimetrists, radiation therapists, and others interested in particle therapy. Read more »

In a new UCLA article at: www.newswise.com/articles/ucla-scientists-discover-mechanism-that-transforms-healthy-cells-into-prostate-cancer Dr. Owen Witte, who is director of the Broad Stem Cell Research Center, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and senior author of the study is quotes as saying,

“We conclude by these results that Bmi-1 is a crucial regulator of self-renewal in adult prostate cells and plays important roles in prostate cancer initiation and progression.”  and, “It was encouraging to see that inhibiting this protein slows the growth of even a very aggressive prostate cancer, because that could give us new ways to attack this disease.

In an Article by Tami Freeman, Editor of medicalphysicsweb, A community website from IOP Publishing in the UK comes  an article with the title above.

The introduction to it reads:

Long-term survivors of prostate cancer who were treated with radiation therapy face a small but significant risk of developing radiation-induced secondary cancer. Many of these second cancers arise in the normal tissue adjacent to the target, thus it’s been suggested that proton therapy – with its dosimetric advantages – could potentially reduce their incidence.

The bottom line, according to this review (Int. J. Radiat. Biol. Oncol. Phys. 74 616) is:

“…suggesting that the proton therapy plan could reduce the second-cancer risk by 26-39% compared with IMRT. The MD Anderson team concluded”

As a survivor (thus far) having undergone Proton Radiation Therapy in 2005. This is very encouraging news indeed. It provides the start of an answer that I was unable to get when I asked the question about long term after effects of my Radiation Oncology treatment group just about one year ago. I see them again soon and will let them know about this work.

Sign up on Medical Physics Web and read the entire article: at medicalphysicsweb.org/cws/article/research/39231

[Caption: The clinical Center of Proton Therapy at PSI]
Online — Recently I found a concise and clear article on the nature of protons beam therapy at the website of the Paul Scherrer Institute  (PSI) in Switzerland.

Here’s a sample of their writing in a FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) that covers the first two questions, what protons are and how they affect tissue (as compared to Photons – or X-rays) – Note- the words are the same, but the paragraph structures have been changed to make it more easily read online.

What are protons?
Protons are positively charged particles – the nucleus of the hydrogen atom. In radiotherapy they enter the human body at a pre-selected energy level and continue in a straight line up to a precisely calculated depth.

While moving, they release energy with little radiation damage effects.

Toward the end of their trajectory they slow down, coming to rest at the Bragg peak (called after the physicist of that name), where they release most of their energy and damage the cells.

Behind the Bragg peak the dose reduces to nil after a few millimetres. This physical profile is the reason for using protons in radiotherapy. It permits deep-seated tumours to be treated without overshooting the mark.

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One of the things that never dawned on me, until some strange things happened, was the subtle complications that can occur after proton and other therapies for prostate cancer.

I’m not referring to the possibility of incontinence or sexual malfunction – we were all warned of them, I am sure. There’s a few other things else that no one ever warned me about.

So, this it’s my opportunity to share some of my more recent experiences with visitors, who I expect are people involved with prostate cancer options and the results of their decisions and treatments.

If I haven’t mentioned it before I had excellent results from surgery (2003) and a combination of X-ray (IMRT) and Proton Beam (PBRT) in 2005, followed by a over a year of antiandrogen therapy.

According to Wikipedia (so you can look them up yourself):

Antiandrogens are a class of drug which bind and inhibit the androgen receptor, blocking the growth of testosterone…and…

In men, testosterone plays a key role in health and well-being as well as preventing osteoporosis.

My recent education started….
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The ProCure Proton Therapy Center in Oklahoma City opened its doors on July 8, 2009, following a world-record construction timeline of 27 months.

It is the sixth center in the United States to provide proton therapy to treat a variety of cancer tumors.

Patients are now being treated with proton therapy at The ProCure Proton Therapy Center in Oklahoma City.

To ensure patients have a seamless and integrated experience, ProCure has joined with Radiation Medicine Associates and the state’s largest non-profit hospital organization, INTEGRIS Health, to bring proton therapy to Oklahoma.

“We have been looking forward to this day and I could not be happier or more excited for our patients,” said W.C. Goad, M.D., medical director of the Center and a founder of Radiation Medicine Associates, the eight-physician radiation oncology practice that joined with ProCure to bring the Center to Oklahoma.

“Every aspect of the Center was designed and developed with a focus on patients and on providing exceptional patient care. We will care for and about our patients and provide them with a healing environment.”
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