News Flash: LLUMC now handling Early Stage Breast Cancer with Protons
What exciting news!
All kinds of new ideas are emerging regarding Prostate cancer including a recommendation that the medical profession stop taking PSA’s from men over 75.
Another group says that Protons are too expensive for Prostate Treatment when other modalities will do and that they should focus on more difficult cancers with the existing capability.
Last, those who have their business threatened by new Proton Centers are working hard to discredit Protons and have made some outlandish statements and comparisons that vary widely from the current 2008 facts.
Of course, those of us who have had Proton treatment almost always have a different point of view and already know that Protons are used in treating MANY other body sites. In fact, if you’ve read the MD Anderson reports you’d know that almost the very first patient for their new center was a retired Colonel, treated for “lung cancer”.
In my case, I just go to my Doctor for routine physicals and he looks at my PSA and does a DRE as part of my annual. The lack of repeated trips to a Urologist in my case mitigates the cost of Protons when so many men I have met are in and out of their Urologist office often.
Then there is a group that insist that we do a study to verify the efficacy of the Proton, however, I would think you’d have to be out of you mind to chance a Placebo in a Randomized test. There is plenty of information around on the Proton including five, ten and fifteen year reports from Loma Linda and more to come as these wonderful centers come on line.
Last, as more centers come on line, our beautiful “Market Forces” will dictate the cost and establish new price parameters. Note that the Siteman Cancer Center in Saint Louis, MO expects to be on-line in 2009.
