Fifteen Year Review

Posted by Jim Tuggey on June 19th, 2006 — Posted in General

THIS 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

3 Comments

Comment by Jon Nowlin

Where can one get a copy of the full text?

Posted on June 27, 2006 at 9:16 pm

Comment by Dan

Any numbers on the 6K patients who were treated at LL for prostate Cancer using Proton Radiation?

What is their 10, 20 and 30 year outcomes?

Posted on July 18, 2006 at 10:47 am

Comment by Jim Tuggey (site owner)

Protons were established at Loma Linda in 1990 and began treatment for Prostates with Protons in 1991, so 20 year or 30 year experience on Prostates treated with Protons is not here yet.

Protons however, were used at the Berkeley Labs in 1954 and at Harvard in 1961 but not in a hospital setting. Loma Linda’s action was to establish a hospital setting by 1990.

You can contact LLUMC for the ten year report and the fifteen year review. The review included input from Oncologists and other experts from Harvard, Loma Linda and other sources. Dr. Jerry Slater the Chairman of the Proton Treatment Center at LLUMC is the corresponding author on the fifteen year review.

Contact number for Loma Linda information is: (800) 496-4966

Posted on July 19, 2006 at 4:08 am

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