A recent study by researchers at the University of Florida found that proton therapy is a viable treatment for prostate cancer. The study analyzed the medical records of 211 men with the disease who were treated with protons. The doctors found the therapy to be safe, effective, and helpful in reducing side effects associated with other treatments. These doctors were not alone in their findings either. In a separate report from the Massachusetts General Hospital, doctors concluded that proton therapy was a viable option for prostate cancer treatment, thus concluding that men suffering from the disease will be able to make their own treatment choices, based upon the quality of life they wish to have, without fear of compromising their chance for a cure.
I give you these studies to show that clinical research has been conducted that looks into the efficacy and benefits of proton cancer therapy. It is a treatment option that is gaining in popularity every day because it is the most precise and advanced form of radiation treatment available. Because it primarily radiates the tumor site, healthy surrounding tissue and organs are left intact. Conventional X-ray radiation often radiates healthy tissue in its path and surrounding the tumor site.
The side effects from proton therapy are minimal to none compared with conventional forms of radiation. Patients don’t experience pain or discomfort during treatment sessions. There may be side effects during or after treatment, such as skin irritation, tiredness, and hair loss in the area being treated, but these are generally minor, less frequent, and less severe than the side effects that can result from standard X-ray radiation therapy. The body is able to much more easily tolerate the treatment than standard radiation therapy. Even in high dose treatments, there are very few side effects.
Because proton therapy has been in use for over 40 years, it is considered a “mature treatment technology.” With that said, there are certainly side effects inherent in any form of radiation therapy and these must be understood before proceeding with treatment. Understanding how radiation (whether proton or X-ray) reacts with tumors and normal tissue is still imperfect in the medical field. However, studies continually show that proton radiation has significantly fewer side effects than other forms of radiation treatment.
Proton therapy is most effective in treating tumors that are localized and have not spread to distant areas of the body. To date, nearly 35,000 people have received proton therapy in the U.S. since 1990. Almost 70,000 people worldwide have received the treatment. Experts conservatively estimate that about 250,000 cancer patients in the United States could benefit from proton therapy. The therapy has been used to treat nearly every part of the body; prostate, brain, lung, head, neck, base of the skull, gastrointestinal, eye, bladder, esophagus, liver, and breast. Children, sarcoma patients, and lymphoma patients have been treated successfully with proton therapy as well.
When compared to the standard forms of cancer treatment, i.e. chemotherapy and X-ray therapy, proton therapy far out marks them in terms of efficacy and reduction of side effects. Here is a rundown of the benefits of proton therapy as compared to chemotherapy and X-ray therapy:
As you can see, there are few places where chemotherapy or X-ray treatments meet proton therapy treatment in terms of efficacy and side effects. It is, in a sense, in a league of its own when it comes to targeting tumors precisely with little to no side effects. Proton therapy offers an effective cancer treatment that also results in a better quality of life during and after treatment.
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