BST
August 17th, 2004, 06:14 PM
Hey folks,
I saw this article over at ABC NEWS website and thought that I'd share it with you. This seems like a miracle treatment!
BST
:)
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/Living/proton_therapy_040817-1.html
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/Living/proton_therapy_040817-2.html
Zapping Cancer
Proton Beam Therapy Proves Effective in Targeting Tumors
http://a.abcnews.com/images/abcnewscom_83x20.gif
Aug. 17, 2004 — A new kind of radiation is proving effective in the fight against cancer. Proton beam therapy, according to doctors, zeroes in on tumors with impressive results and without the devastating side effects of traditional radiation therapy.
"We can shape the beam more accurately, hitting targets with more precision," said Dr. Jerry Slater, clinical director of Loma Linda's Proton Therapy Center in Southern California.
"You don't feel any pain," said Ron Leuck, who is being treated for prostate cancer with the new therapy.
During the treatment, a rotating scaffold three stories high aims computerized ray guns directly at his tumor.
"The patient experiences less effects in any of the normal tissues that might cause side effects," said Dr. James Cox, head of the division of radiation oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Conventional radiation burns everything in its path, so side effects can include damage to healthy organs near the tumor.
By contrast, the new radiation therapy shoots proton particles that can be told precisely when and where to explode, releasing all their energy to destroy cancer cells.
"We can concentrate the energy, the explosion, if you will, entirely within the tumor and leave the tissues out," Cox said.
Treatment Matches Tumor’s Shape
The particles can be fired through an opening made to match exactly a tumor's irregular shape. The functionality allows doctors to precisely target tumors that are inoperable.
"We can radiate, for example, around the eye, and treat a tumor very close to the eye, and have no effect on the eye," said Cox.
Doctors can also hit a "U-shaped" tumor wrapped around the spinal nerves, leaving the nerves untouched.
For prostate cancer, where surgery can lead to incontinence or impotence, patients "can get results that are equivalent, if not better than surgery, and have better sexual function," Slater said.
"You get the most benefit for the least risk," said Leuck. "The treatment doesn't have any side effects."
Leuck has none of the fatigue associated with conventional radiation, so he can go straight from his treatment to the gym.
Proton therapy is also proving especially important for children with cancer. Since their bodies are still growing, they are at much greater risk from the extraneous radiation that protons avoid.
Proton radiation therapy is often no help, however, if the cancer has already spread. Its main use is with tumors that are still well-contained.
But that only makes early detection of tumors all the more effective — now that doctors have a precision scalpel that can remove tumors without surgery, a treatment they expect will become increasingly more available.
ABC News' Bill Blakemore filed this report for World News Tonight.
I saw this article over at ABC NEWS website and thought that I'd share it with you. This seems like a miracle treatment!
BST
:)
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/Living/proton_therapy_040817-1.html
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/Living/proton_therapy_040817-2.html
Zapping Cancer
Proton Beam Therapy Proves Effective in Targeting Tumors
http://a.abcnews.com/images/abcnewscom_83x20.gif
Aug. 17, 2004 — A new kind of radiation is proving effective in the fight against cancer. Proton beam therapy, according to doctors, zeroes in on tumors with impressive results and without the devastating side effects of traditional radiation therapy.
"We can shape the beam more accurately, hitting targets with more precision," said Dr. Jerry Slater, clinical director of Loma Linda's Proton Therapy Center in Southern California.
"You don't feel any pain," said Ron Leuck, who is being treated for prostate cancer with the new therapy.
During the treatment, a rotating scaffold three stories high aims computerized ray guns directly at his tumor.
"The patient experiences less effects in any of the normal tissues that might cause side effects," said Dr. James Cox, head of the division of radiation oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Conventional radiation burns everything in its path, so side effects can include damage to healthy organs near the tumor.
By contrast, the new radiation therapy shoots proton particles that can be told precisely when and where to explode, releasing all their energy to destroy cancer cells.
"We can concentrate the energy, the explosion, if you will, entirely within the tumor and leave the tissues out," Cox said.
Treatment Matches Tumor’s Shape
The particles can be fired through an opening made to match exactly a tumor's irregular shape. The functionality allows doctors to precisely target tumors that are inoperable.
"We can radiate, for example, around the eye, and treat a tumor very close to the eye, and have no effect on the eye," said Cox.
Doctors can also hit a "U-shaped" tumor wrapped around the spinal nerves, leaving the nerves untouched.
For prostate cancer, where surgery can lead to incontinence or impotence, patients "can get results that are equivalent, if not better than surgery, and have better sexual function," Slater said.
"You get the most benefit for the least risk," said Leuck. "The treatment doesn't have any side effects."
Leuck has none of the fatigue associated with conventional radiation, so he can go straight from his treatment to the gym.
Proton therapy is also proving especially important for children with cancer. Since their bodies are still growing, they are at much greater risk from the extraneous radiation that protons avoid.
Proton radiation therapy is often no help, however, if the cancer has already spread. Its main use is with tumors that are still well-contained.
But that only makes early detection of tumors all the more effective — now that doctors have a precision scalpel that can remove tumors without surgery, a treatment they expect will become increasingly more available.
ABC News' Bill Blakemore filed this report for World News Tonight.