I hear the Germans will be open with their Proton Facility in Munich, maybe as early as next month.
About a year ago I started the campaign PRotons with a “R” and I was pleased to see that they picked up on that idea in their web site.
IMRT Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy, and 3D Three Dimensional Radiation has a protocol similar to Protons. However, these types of Radiation are X-Rays (Photons) with the usual side effects. See Table for comparison of effects.
Note the top three items – bad news for the patient. The source is Dr. Metz at U. PA, he is the Doctor responsible for the new Proton Center at University of Pennsylvania around 2007.
Managing Editor December 1, 2004
FORTUNE
ATTN: Mr. Norman Pearlstine
Time and Life Building
Rockefeller Center
New York, NY 10020
Dear Sir:
I am surprised at the incomplete research in the article Beating Cancer November 29, 2004.
I was treated over five years ago for Prostate Cancer using “state-of-the-art�? Proton Therapy at Loma Linda University’s Proton Treatment Center, in California www.llu.edu/proton. My case is explained at my web site at www.prostateproton.com and the links. I am not a doctor, just a VERY HAPPY patient.
This wonderful option is not specifically mentioned in Fortune’s piece regarding radiation and is unfortunately grouped on page 104 under the “What you need to know about prostate cancer�?, Radiation. In my opinion and personal experience at Loma Linda, Proton Therapy, (Please note the “R�?) is by far the new Gold standard without the unpleasant side effects mentioned on page 104 of FORTUNE Nov. 29, 2004.
FORTUNE’s information on page 104 assumes that all radiation is alike and is incorrect, for that reason leaving potential patients without information on Proton Therapy, including patients with other cancers!
The article is important and credits Mr. Milken with finding funding needed for critical research. However, it ignores the fact that the “Proton�? with it’s inherent and controllable accuracy (Bragg Peak) has been used at Massachusetts General Hospital in cooperation with Harvard since 1961 and continues now in their new Northeast Proton Therapy Center (NPTC) at the Massachusetts General Hospital cancer.mgh.harvard.edu/cancer_radonc_nptc_home.htm.
Loma Linda began Proton Therapy in 1990 and I’ll bet that Mr. Milken never heard of it! In 1991 a member of the facility engineering team from FERMI Laboratories was the first Prostate Cancer patient to be treated at Loma Linda using Protons. To date, out of over 9,000 patients treated with Protons, over 6,000 have been for Prostate Cancer. The success in minimal side effects is outstanding!
Now the treatment is available at the Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute, in Bloomington, and M.D. Anderson in Houston is about to complete its new Proton Center scheduled to open in 2005. (Dr. Smith in Houston at MD Anderson would be the contact.) Also Dr. Metz at the University of Pennsylvania can provide information on the advantages of the Proton and tell you about their plans for a center. One more, Shands Cancer center in Jacksonville, Florida has a Proton facility under construction and at about 80 to 100 million for each facility the numbers are impressive and should be well know and included in all funding for research.
I HAVE NO SIDE EFFECTS! 5 YEARS, 3 MONTHS post treatment.
Sincerely yours,
Howard J. “Jim�? Tuggey
Generally I agree with this New York Times report, however the value of the Proton cannot be exaggerated when it treats you without resulting impotence nor incontinence nor any other significant side effects.
This debate has been in place long before I was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer and of course, everyone has their own agenda like the Doctor on a recent March “Today” show who said, “I don’t see any difference between other treatments and the Proton” while we know that he is fighting his heart out to get a Proton center at his hospital.
So who knows, I know I have a great peace of mind, and would ask any man who has been diagnosed to ask Loma Linda for a second opinion and very soon M D Anderson in Houston will be on line for Protons.
Another center is in the planning stages in Florida and yet another with the University of Pennsylvania and Walter Reed Hospital cooperating. In fact, over 20 new Proton centers are in the planning stages if they can raise the 100 million it takes to build one.
Dear Laura:
Regarding your byline – Minimally Invasive Techniques Emerge as Alternatives for Men With Nonmalignant Condition, WSJ May 20, 2004.
Thank you for this article regarding non-invasive techniques for BHP.
Better yet is the fact that I was treated for Prostate Cancer in 1999 with the Non-invasive Proton – [Proton with a “R”] starting with a PSA of 15.9, a Gleason Score of 6, and Staging T1C. The result of this treatment at Loma Linda Medical Center’s Proton Treatment Center as of Tuesday, May 18, 2004 is a PSA of 0.1 without side effects over 4 and 1/2 years later.
This treatment is not new, Harvard at Mass. General Hospital started treating with the Proton in 1961 and Loma Linda began in 1990. The first cancerous prostate was treated in 1991 at Loma Linda and since then over 5,000 men have been delighted with the results from this non-invasive, minimal side effects treatment.
As of today in Mass. there is a Northeast Proton Center, in Bloomington, Indiana the Midwest Proton Center, and all treat the prostate and many other cancers and benign tumors. A new Proton Center is under construction at M.D. Anderson in Houston where they will use the techniques developed at Loma Linda University under the guidance of Dr. James Slater who recently appeared on the Today show in a Melissa Stark segment.
Two other centers are in the final stages of planning, one in Florida, and one with Walter Reed Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania cooperating. Others are in the early development stage. Over 33,000 patients have been treated with the Proton worldwide and it is a viable, important treatment that is often overlooked and bundled with “Radiation” in general even by the National Cancer Institute.
The proton with the “R” makes the difference – the Photon spelled with a “h” is standard X-Ray although the techniques of delivery have improved using 3 D, IMRT and other techniques. Unless the prostate center has the capability of delivering the Proton, it is not capable of this treatment. As of this date, only three centers have the proton delivery capability as above.
I sponsor 30 “e-mail challenged” men who have had this “proton treatment” and all are happy with the result.
Thank you for reading.
Howard J. “Jim” Tuggey
Prostate Cancer Survivor
Welcome to 2004 and continuing good news about Prostate treatment over the last twelve and one half years, at LLUMC using “Protons” with more and more men offering testimonies about their “Proton” experience. You can read their stories at www.protonBob.com.
I’m not a doctor, but I have been treated successfully using the Proton at Loma Linda University, Proton Treatment Center (LLUMC) in 1999. I just returned from Loma Linda in November 2003 with a PSA at 0.2 after four years and three months with only minor side effects and no pain. I started at a PSA of 15.9, Gleason 6, and Stage T1C.
On investigation I think you will find that Proton success rates are equal or better than other methods of treatment including radical prostatectomy without the pain. From my point of view, one of the distinct advantages of treatment using the Proton, is the maintenance of your “Quality of Life”.
New uses are being found for the proton in treating “Lung” cancer, “Wet” Macular Degeneration of the eye and other cancers and benign tumors, are all exciting with more to come including protons for breast cancer.
