This forum is for the discussion of anything to do with Prostate Cancer. There are only four rules:
No fundraisers, no commercials (although it is OK to recommend choices of treatment or medical people based on your personal research; invitations to participate in third-party surveys are also acceptable, provided there is no compensation to YANA);
No harvesting e-mail addresses for Spam;
No insults or flaming - be polite and respectful at all times and understand that there may be a variety of points of view, all of which may have some validity;
Opinions are OK, but please provide as much factual evidence as possible for any assertions that you are making
Failure to abide by these simple rules will result in the immediate and permanent suspension of your posting privileges.
Since this is an International Forum, please specify your location in your post.
I am neither a doctor nor a medical professional: however, I am a PC patient who has completed 45 treatments, seven months ago at Loma Linda Medical Center at Loma Linda CA. The process (Proton Therapy) was painless and I have not suffered any side effects. My PSA was 5.3 before treatment and 7 months later its 1.0.
Newcomers interested in this choice might like to read the experiences of the 30 or so men who have contributed them - the index is here RADIATION – PROTON BEAM
Think one could double check with a treating doc on this one. I was treated in 2000 at Loma Linda (USA) with proton and attended a support group for three years where I met several research scientists, practicing docs, and literally thousands of proton grads. Some of the patients were "retreads" who were going for a second dose. Quite a few ("over 15%" as I recall) more were "failed" surgery patients. Maybe the traditional wisdom of tissue not being able to withstand more than the "maximum" varies due to what scientists are now finding about what that level is in certain tissues. Since proton is so conformal and much of the collateral damage can be kept to a minimum, maybe it is also OK in some cases to do proton again since the collateral tissue may not have had its "maximum". Also, I think it is common to sometimes recommend proton (or IMRT) after or in combo with surgery (or seeds, for that matter). Anyway, best consult a knowledgeable scientist/doc on this one if more than theoretically concerned.
