Fifteen Year Review
Monday, June 19th, 2006THIS AMAZING REPORT WAS PUBLISHED IN APRIL 2006
Clinical Applications of Proton Radiation
Treatment at Loma Linda University:
Review of a Fifteen-year Experience
Jerry D. Slater, M.D.
Go to: http://www.tcrt.org
This wonderful review that begins with an important statement, “Our cumulative experience has confirmed that protons are a superb tool for delivering conformal radiation treatments, enabling delivery of effective doses of radiation and sparing normal tissues from radiation exposure.”
This statement alone is exciting, full of positives and advantages of Proton therapy. The review confirms the vision of Dr. James Slater who started the process and examines the wonders it has wrought.
From the review, some key points are:
“largest total from any institution and accounting for about 25 percent of all patients treated with protons since 1954.”
“Protons are now used at Loma Linda to treat approximately 50 tumors and other diseases in most regions of the body”.
One source attributed in the review comments that the “advantages for protons and disadvantage for photons constitutes an ‘inherent physical gap’ that will likely be long lasting. It should be noted that while conformity to the target has improved with photons using such techniques as intensity modulation, it comes at the expense of exposure of a significantly greater volume of non-target tissues.”
The review is perfect and the talking points are many that should give rise to further confidence in both the current therapy and advocacy by those of us who have experienced the treatment as well as those who will be and are making an important prostate cancer treatment decision.
If I were just diagnosed, I would want to go to the most experienced Proton Treatment Center for treatment of the disease, right now and for the foreseeable future, Protons for Prostate cancer happens at Loma Linda, this fact should provide the driving force for increasing patient input and research funding.
The fact that Protons are in use at in Boston, Mass.; Bloomington, Indiana, and Houston, Texas will expand patient knowledge of this important and growing treatment choice.
Jim Tuggey
June 19, 2006
