Prostate Cancer Blog – Proton Therapy for Prostate Cancer

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

It’s great to see that Proton treatment for Prostate cancer is moving right along at the National Cancer Center (NCC) in Seoul, South Korea. We’ll add their information to our Links page. For your information, they also offer Tomotherapy, IMRT, and 3D Brachytherapy. Access to treatment at the NCC is immediate (no waiting).

As you know by now, my experience is only with Protons, where the X-ray is not used and the side effects are reduced. The main reason is that the X-ray is unstoppable and goes all the way through the body with some resultant tissue damage to adjacent tissue and/or tissue in the path. IMRT and Tomotherapy use the X-ray as the radiation vehicle. Brachytherapy uses radioactive seeds which have very short range radiation. Brachytherapy is often used in combination with X-rays, such as RCOG in Georgia.

Today, I’ve gone 10 years and 3 months since treatment without side effects – and on Jan 29th I celebrate 56 years of marriage. Loma Linda helped me see two new granddaughters. My physical in November 2009 was PSA 0.1 as it has been for over six of the past ten years.

My response time for questions about the Proton is normally less than 24 hours.

We need to emphasize that the current health care debate seems to ignore the fact that medicine is moving in the direction of focusing on older, more active people.

When new medical techniques are coupled with the “Nano-Technolgy” that is already underway, they guarantee a population that will live longer and healthier and be productive far beyond all current thinking.

It is a fact that yesterday’s retirement age has been projected at least twenty or more years longer than our own parents would ever believe. I’ve read studies that predict life spans out to 110 years old.

We need to get Proton Therapy recognized and implemented and through the IRON gates erected by the current medical profession. I detest the thought that if we don’t have it, then it must be worthless, an attitude demonstrated continually by some members of the medical profession. The Urologist who told one of my friends that the Proton was “Witchcraft” needs to be called to the carpet.

There was a short clip in the Wall Street Journal in the past week wherein Mr. Newt Gingrich told about a desperate couple who found a new cure for their son’s disease. He said it was the Proton and then called it “Unproven”.

As of today that are about 60,000 people worldwide who could disagree but, since I don’t speak for them I can only state that I disagree and the People who have been treated with “Protons” at Loma Linda University and Medical Center’ Proton Center (LLUMC) alone, now number over 14,000.

The Proton is proven in my case and in the case of many other men and at least one woman I have spoken to who was cured of “Lung cancer” after three major medical centers had told her she had ninety days left on this earth. She told me that the last stop was at the Mayo Clinic where the Doctor there agreed that she had ninety days however, told her to check out LLUMC where they had a new system for treatment. She did and when she talked to me she said that was over five years ago.

So, I must assume that Mr. Gingrich asked about Protons and must have run into a Doctor who was selling something else. I remember one man who was successfully treated with Protons despite the fact that his Urologist called it “Witchcraft”.

More Proton centers in Tennessee, New Hampshire, and the United Kingdom are in the works. For your info, they have a low-energy proton center at the Clatterbridge Hospital that is limited as to the types of cancer they can treat.

Read “The Edge of Medicine” – you can order it at most booksellers and it starts with the Proton Center about to open in Philadelphia and goes on to the miracles of “Nano-technology” that are coming.

I am happy; I HAVE NO SIDE EFFECTS OVER ten years since treatment with Protons at LLUMC.

• Completed Proton Treatment for Prostate cancer on August 27, 1999.
• For the last six years my PSA has stabilized at 0.1.
• I’ve been here for the birth of two new Granddaughters.
• My Doctor, who is a General Practitioner, handles my PSA at annual physicals, and I have never had to return to my Urologist who diagnosed my Prostate Cancer.
• I’ll be 80 years old in February 2010 and spend my spare time telling other men and women about Protons.

In the meantime, Proton skills and equipment have improved; new Proton Centers have been established in Houston, TX. Bloomington, Indiana. Jacksonville, Florida, and Mass General Hospital, on MA.

Proton centers are opening in Philadelphia, Oklahoma City, South Florida, West Chicago, and Hampton University in Virginia and others.

Cost is discussed often however, do not be dissuaded since all the men I have talked to in the last ten years who had other treatments from Surgery, to Seeds , and many forms of X-Ray radiation from IMRT to Cyber – knife spend a lot of time visiting their Urologist at considerable follow-on costs that I DO NOT HAVE. At this writing Medicare pays.

Just one final thought, we help to insure that advances in treatment are not “Stymied” and the Basic Research Money continues to flow.

I am happy, I HAVE NO SIDE EFFECTS ten years since treatment. Want to discuss? e-mail me at jjtug@msn.com and read the “Links” on my web site.

At least one web site marks up Protons as an older technology and does not seem to understand that this wonderful option has continuously evolved into the powerhouse treatment that it is today. (I think they are the ones behind the times and fear the Protons impact on medicine.) These detractors cite “current studies” that portray the Proton in ways that are actually just the opposite of the real impact of this wonderful treatment.

This is the month that I reach 10 years since treatment that ended on August 27, 2009. I have had no further visits to my Urologist regarding Protons and I DO NOT HAVE SIDE EFFECTS!

Talk to a PROTON EXPERT, at Loma Linda, CA; MD Anderson, Houston, TX; Proton Institute in Jacksonville, Fla. The new Procure Center in Oklahoma City the just opened in May 2009. Ultimately, you have to make the decision regarding your treatment.

These detractors sell what they have to sell recommend surgery including “Robotic” and radiation oncologists seeds (Brachytherapy) or traditional radiation with all of its new names. The problem is that almost all radiation treatments use X-Rays up to and including “Cyberknife”.

Today’s Protons on the other hand are NOT X-Rays, are extremely accurate, and have the unique capability of being more precisely controlled for application to many cancers or benign tumors.

Worldwide over 50,000 people have been so treated with Protons for many cancerous and benign tumors.

Read “The Edge of Medicine”, Proton therapy is on that edge and meets or betters any other treatment.

I am not a Doctor, only a happy former patient, I HAVE NO SIDE EFFECTS! Seems like a no-brainer when you have a non-invasive treatment that works.

I am pleased to announce that we now have Videos on the web site that show you exactly how Protons work. The distinction is that all radiation treatments use X-Rays up to and including “Cyberknife”. They are unstoppable and pass all the way through the body and given the fact that the X-Rays must be strong enough to kill the cancer, there will be damage to adjacent tissue in the process of using X-rays.

These videos will show you that Protons, that are not X-Rays, are extremely accurate, and have the unique capability of being more precisely controlled for application to the cancer or benign tumor being treated. Watch the videos and you will begin to understand the significance of this precise control of the Proton in treating your cancer and the lack of collateral damage. Here are links to the videos:

1. Introduction to Loma Linda & Proton Therapy
2. The Advantages of Proton Therapy
3. What is Proton Therapy?
4. How Does Proton Therapy Work?

In the meantime I will complete nine years and 10 months since my treatment with Protons in 1999, my PSA stays at 0.1 without side effects and the Proton process gets better each day. The following picture shows the new Robotic Positioning arm for the patients, this will accelerate the number of patients that can be treated each day for Prostate cancers.

This NEW device will be the carrier for you to the painless Proton treatment that I had in 1999:

One of the key points as we get into the possible rationing of Protons must be the fact that in my experience the Lifetime costs of Proton today are less than x-rays. I talk to a lot of men and often their wives about their post-treatment distress and marvel at the fact that I do not even see my Urologist since treatment in 1999 about the Prostate cancer I had in earlier that year.

My PSA stays at 0.1 I’m just three months short of TEN years, post treatment without side effects and the process gets better continuously.

So it is of some concern that members of the Medical Insurance community are stopping payment for Protons in some states and that seems to be contrary to medical Progress and better lives for many who can benefit from Proton treatment.

I was so happy with my proton treatment that I opened a web site at prostateproton.com in early 2000 (initial contact has been changed to prostateblog.com to attain a broader contact base) that provides information to those men and women who inquire about my personal experience with proton treatment.

Despite reading many differing views on the proton I have NO side effects whatsoever. And, after giving talks about protons to many prostate cancer support groups I was dismayed that so many men who had other treatments were discussing what diaper to wear, and listening to recommendations about how to handle a myriad of problems from the doctors who often talked to these groups. My talks have been provided to the US Too groups under the National Cancer Society that are located nationwide.

Please understand that I spend 3 to four hours a day since I was diagnosed in early 1999 on the subject of “prostate cancer” and have read all that I can find about other treatments.

Rumors on cost and effectiveness must be dispelled particularly since lifetime costs of treatment with protons is far less than any treatment with any X-Ray based treatment. The problem is that almost all radiation treatments use X-Rays up to and including “Cyberknife”.

Protons on the other hand are NOT X-Rays, are extremely accurate, and have the unique capability of being more precisely controlled for application to the cancer or benign tumor being treated.

“We invite you to find out about proton therapy, our Center, the opportunities we offer for treatment and our team.”

The RPTC in Munich is the first fully certified European proton radiation centre that provides a complete hospital setting for the treatment of cancer tumours.

This innovative therapeutic procedure involves the use of high-energy proton beams to treat cancer. The special characteristic of these proton beams is that protons allow three-dimensional targeting of the tumour by contrast with the X-rays used in conventional radiation therapy. This permits highly effective doses to be delivered to the tumour while reducing the side effects of radiation by minimizing trauma to the surrounding healthy tissue.

Just as this valuable Proton Center opens and treats it’s first Patient in March 2009 – The Wall Street “Health Journal” put’s out it’s article: Prostate Cancer: Weighing Options by Melinda Beck

Ignores the Proton due to incomplete research.

Anyone who writes about Prostate Cancer Treatment should know about Protons – Once again, I am personally over nine years and seven months post Proton treatment and have NO side effects.

These are facts and grouping Protons with Radiation in general is a gross mistake. Go back to my site’s opening paragraph and note the statement, “This permits highly effective doses to be delvered to the tumour while reducing the side effects of radiation by minimizing trauma to the surrounding healthy tissue.”

That’s a fact folks, I’ve been through it with over 8,000 other men at Loma Linda Proton Center alone and we are happy.

Look at the evidence my web site alone www.prostateblog.com and then read the testimonies at www.protonbob.com.

For the WSJ, wake up and smell the roses!

Jim Tuggey
April 7, 2009

Forbes Article “The 150 Million Zapper” in the magazine dated 16 March 2009 has its own results. You can quickly go to the comments and discover the general unhappiness over this inadequately researched article, read responses by men who have actually been treated with Protons for Prostate Cancer.

IN THE MEANTIME:

• The Roberts Proton Therapy Center, University of Pennsylvania Health System, in Philadelphia, appears to be on schedule to open in 2009.
• Followed by the Procure Proton Therapy Center set to open in the summer of 2009 in Oklahoma City.
• Followed by the Hampton University Proton Treatment Center in Hampton Virginia. They have received their equipment and hope to have it installed and up by 2010.
• And, at the Northern Illinois University Proton Center – ground was broken last October 2008, equipment has been inspected and they should be on target for late 2010.

I will keep you informed as these new centers come on line to provide a solution to Prostate cancer that has been wonderful for me.

At this time I am trying to get a firm forecast on the following (over a year old) announcement from the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

“SEATTLE, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) 2008 and Northwest Hospital & Medical Center today announced the signing of a letter of intent to explore the development of a new, state-of-the-art cancer treatment facility offering proton beam radiation therapy.”

Jim Tuggey
March 22, 2009

I have been sponsoring thirty men who do not have e-mail. Over the past few years some have gone “on-line” and a few have passed away. This changes the characters, however we always keep in touch.

It hurts me to lose one of these men that I communicate with regularly, however on January 2009, one great guy, departed.

He was treated with Protons in 2001, had no side effects and was the victim of a severe heart attack at age 85. His wife wrote me a note and explained that he was symptom free of any Prostate trouble for the entire time from 2001 to his demise.

Historically, another of my sponsored men passed with the same story.

My story is also consistent with the great results for the treatment of Prostate cancer with Protons that these men experienced.

Read Bob Marckini’s book – Bob has without question helped more men to make the right decision about Protons than anyone. You Can Beat Prostate Cancer And You Don’t Need Surgery to Do It, is available at the Proton Bob web site, Amazon.com or LuLu Publications.

If your doctor doesn’t know about Protons, contact me and I’ll insure that you get an answer from someone who does know and has the information so you can make your own choice.

I repeat, Protons are the best choice for medical treatment I have ever made in my life!

Jim Tuggey
March 1, 2009