Proton therapy - Was Re: Cryoablation-- a good, if not solid, bet?

[Guest guest]

As explained in many an earlier posts you have to do what is right for each

situation as there is no magic bullet that works for everyone

Being young 47 for me RP was not an option - I also was able to speak to at

least a dozen persons under 60 years old who had similar diagnosis going in and

post treatment of 6 -12 18 - 24 -30 and 36 months what their outcome was.

NO Re-occurence in any of the 12 persons I spoke to and To address this

statement " namely urinary

> difficulty and, longer term, reduced potency " Perhaps its to early to tell at

post 3 years but no signifcant issues in either part were present with my dozen

random persons I spoke to.

Again many unanswered questions abound even to treat low level non aggressive PC

cancer but I have choosen proton and don't regret it.

Good luck to all.

>

> > Alan Brought up some good points, but all I can attest to is my

> > experience. First knowing 3 persons personally who went

> > through IMRT and 1 who went through Calypso - All 4 stated that

> > Fatigue played a major role during treatmet with increaded

> > problems voiding. Post they had no real issues though the ones

> > who were on Lupron certainly felt the affects.

>

> I had a mix of HDR brachytherapy, 3DCRT external beam radiation,

> and Lupron.

>

> I did have some significant side effects, the worst of which were

> due to radiation to the prostate itself - namely urinary

> difficulty and, longer term, reduced potency. In *theory*, I

> would expect those to be similar with proton radiation. I also

> had some effects outside the prostate - some skin burns (minor,

> cleared up quickly), some rectal scarring (permanent), and some

> Peyronie's disease (permanent). In theory, I would expect those

> to have been significantly reduced with proton radiation - though

> in my particular case, the proton doctors might have used x-rays

> anyway for the treatment around the prostate that I had. So I

> might still have had the side effects.

>

> My energy level also declined, though I attributed that to the

> Lupron. But maybe it did have something to do with the

> radiation.

>

> Would I have done better on proton therapy? Maybe. I'll never

> know. I'm thankfull that the treatment seems to have worked and,

> at this point, I don't worry about the side effects.

>

> What we really need is some well conducted clinical trials that

> compare the two, randomizing some men to the best x-ray

> treatments (though we don't know what those are: brachy? IMRT?

> IGRT? Cyberknife?) and some to the best proton treatments. Then

> we'll have a better answer than what we've got now. It is my

> understanding that the comparisons we have now indicate fairly

> comparable outcomes, but they are studies by different centers

> using different study techniques on different patient

> populations. Such studies may be underway now.

>

> If the studies show that the safety and efficacy are the same, I

> imagine that insurance companies will drop proton treatment for

> PCa and some of the centers will go out of business.

>

> If the studies show a difference in favor of proton therapy, then

> we'll have to see what happens, but there will be more pressure

> on insurance companies to pay for the treatment and there may be

> arguments between men who say, " I want the best treatment " , and

> insurance companies that say, " Well, it's only a little better. "

>

> Health care is full of hard decisions for everyone.

>

> > I for one after 20 treatements and with a couple of Alieve on

> > Treatment day don't feel a thing. Sex life normal, urination

> > 95% same as befor treatment, play golf, execercise drink my

> > wine & have lived a normal life so far. Let us hope its

> > succesful and the long term effects are the same as the current

> > and we are all good.

>

> > Just my personal experience.

>

> Let us know how things progress.

>

> Alan

>