Prostate Cancer Blog – Proton Therapy for Prostate Cancer

[This from my friend John P. Ebin]

Dear Editor,

Shame, Shame, Shame on you!!!!!! As a benefactor and patient of the Mayo Clinic for over 35 years, I would have expected better of you. Regarding your mention of Proton Beam Therapy, and your statement that “this form of radiation is under study at a few medical centers, and it’s anticipated that use of this technique will increase in coming years,” I must inform you that this is total misinformation. Loma Linda University Medical Center has been treating patients for over 15 years with incredible results as clearly confirmed in their 5, 7, and 10 year published and peer reviewed studies. Over 10,000 patients have been treated so far with over 6000 of them being for prostate cancer. LLUMC is now treating almost 800 patients per year for Prostate Cancer. Also, centers are open in Boston, Bloomington, Indiana and others all over the world. M. D. Anderson and Shands Hospital are both constructing centers, each costing well over 100 million dollars. They are not spending this money to just “study” but as each have stated, to deliver the most advanced and proven form of targeted radiation to patients, to cure their cancers and save lives, and most importantly to minimize collateral damage to adjacent tissues. Many other major medical institutions in the USA have centers under design and are now searching for the funding.

I have benefited from LLUMC’s vision, having been treated there 3 years ago with excellent results, and no side effects. I did visit Mayo in Rochester to discuss my options with Dr. Robert Meyers (whom I have great respect for), but decided against surgery and instead opted for PBT at LLUMC. In retrospect, it was a great decision, having seen the disastrous side effect from Radical Prostate Surgery in many of my friends.

It looks to me as if Mayo is protecting a revenue source, instead of giving PBT it’s just and honest review. I think you should wake up to the proven benefits of PBT and build your own center. Radical Prostate Surgery is no longer the “Gold Standard.” It is now the “Old Standard” and just possibly normal x-ray radiation will become obsolete in the near future because of the genius and vision of Dr. James Slater at LLUMC.

I suggest you correct your mistake in the next Health Letter, unless you wished to do a terrible disservice to mankind. Anything less than this will cause discredit to your Health Letter, and I for one, will end my subscription.

Respectfully,
John P. Ebin

Very disappointing Medical Essay, June 2005 from the prestigious, Mayo Clinic, Subject: Prostate health.

On page 7, the last sentence of the paragraph on Radiation Therapy that starts with the statement “This is an effective alternate to surgery”, says:

“However, a newer form of therapy uses protons instead of X-rays to kill the cancer. Protons travel through non cancerous tissue and deposit their radiation dose in the targeted area. This form of radiation is under study at a few medical centers, and it’s anticipated that the use of this technique will increase in coming years.” See excerpt attached.

This is very incomplete statement and the only acknowledgement of “protons” in this otherwise informative eight page essay.

Since I just saw Doctor Rossi, on May 17th, started in 1999 with a PSA of 15.9, Gleason 6 and Stage T1C, and now have nothing on the DRE and a PSA of <.1 with five years, 9 months since treatment with no side effects in the last two years, what gives? What is their "protocol" for treatment information? There are two reports Peer reviewed, from Loma Linda that I have read, and about 7,000 men treated for Prostate Cancer at LLUMC. It would seem that Mayo would get the word that a substantial "study" is already completed. Ruined my weekend.

PSA was less than 0.1. On the way home tomorrow.

By the way, M.D. Anderson is due on line next spring, 2006. The Midwest radiotherapy center in Bloomington, Indiana is already treating Prostates and other cancers and Loma Linda has the first 50 women on the way toward refining the breast cancer protocols.