Prostate Cancer Treatment By Proton Therapy And Cost To Patients

Radiation therapy is one of the best treatments for prostate cancer because the procedure is so versatile in scope that the patient has the chance of getting the best benefits from the procedure. He however also has chance of reaping the worst complications that the treatment may offer because radiation does have its limitations and side effects, which include impotence and incontinence, not to mention diarrhea and blood in stools caused by radiation proctitis. 

Patients treated by proton therapy are that much more fortunate than those treated with standard radiation therapy because protons are better able to aim at the tumors of the cancer without doing damage to other cells in the region, thereby making it possible for treatment to be administered with sincerely reduced side effects. Radiotherapy makes use of ionizing radiation of gamma rays or x-rays to do damage to the DNA of abnormal cancer cells; proton therapy simply makes use of protons.

Proton therapy is today described as a precise form of radiation therapy for cancer and other such conditions, which limits or minimizes the damage to healthy tissue and surrounding organs during the process of the treatment. As a result, proton therapy is highly successful and results in fewer side effects for the patient. Due to the precision of the treatment, the procedure is faster, which naturally causes the man to spend a shorter time in the hospital than he would have otherwise needed, and to recover more rapidly from the therapy.

In addition to the following, it has also been determined that proton therapy may reduce the risk of secondary cancers occurring after the primary one has been treated by the procedure.

A beam of protons was used instead of a scalpel in brain surgery for the first time at the Gustaf-Werner Institute for Nuclear Chemistry in Uppsala, Sweden, 1952 – that was the origin of proton therapy. The patient was conscious throughout the painless two-hour procedure; chronic acute pain and depression were relieved without the necessity of brain surgery, which a synchrocyclotron supplied the proton beam through a 60-ft-long tube; only the point of intersection got the full effect. The novel technique was developed at the University of California by Prof. C. A. Tobias who used it for pituitary gland operations. Today it is used to treat prostate cancer as well. 

The cost of proton therapy for prostate cancer treatment at the moment is manageable in fact, coverable also by health insurance policies, so that the patient should not have to worry about expense.

Best and Common Treatments for Prostate Cancer

Like we always say on this Prostate Cancer Victory website, this condition is no longer the killer disease it used to be in the past. Thankfully, there are now many treatment options for not just treating this cancer, but also getting rid of it completely, especially when discovered in good time. This article presents some of the best treatments for this cancer out there.

Prostatectomy – one of the most well known treatments for prostate cancer is a surgical procedure in which the entire prostate gland is removed, or at least parts of it. A radical prostatectomy may be performed by an incision in the abdomen of the patient, an incision in the perineum, or by a laparoscope to reduce the size of incisions. A surgical robot may also the used in order to limit the risks of complications, which are many. Side effects of prostate cancer surgery include impotence and incontinence, some of which may never be lived down.

Radiation therapy – a procedure that uses ionizing radiation from any number of sources to do damage to the DNA of cancer cells also hurts normal cells in the body. The radiation may be from a linear accelerator (external beam radiotherapy) or from radioactive seeds implanted in the prostate gland (brachytherapy). The damage to normal cells causes radiation proctitis, which results in mild rectal bleeding and diarrhea, and impotence and incontinence as well. These side effects generally fade a few weeks after the treatment stops though.

Hormonal therapy – attacking the hormones that contribute to the growth and progression of prostatic adenocarcinomas in the body is certainly a brilliant idea, except that it does not cure the disease. However while the therapy is on the patient will show signs of remission as disease progression slows and the tumors even start to shrink. In early stage, before the cancer can grow resistant, surgery or radiation can complete the cure; in late stage… well at least it slows the disease and gives the patient valuable time to appreciate life and put his accounts in order. 

Chemotherapy – something does have to pick up the ailing ball when hormonal therapy fails to curb the progression of advanced stage hormone refractory prostate cancer, and chemo is it. It is drugs that invade the entire body killing every cell in their path that divide rapidly – not appropriate for early stage disease because the cancerous cells look and act too normal then, but perfect for advanced stage prostate cancer because then the disease would have metastasized to various locations across the body.

Cryotherapy – might be construed to be an improvement on prostatectomy because it is also a surgical procedure, but one that uses extreme cold to kill the cancerous cells. High intensity focused ultrasound also is an improvement on the concept of radiotherapy, this one uses ultrasonic waves. Proton therapy is similar (using protons), while other therapies are popping up all the time. Until the final definitive cure for prostate cancer is found, this will continue to be the trend.

Whats Prostate Cancer Treatment of Advanced Stage Disease

Prostate cancer as mentioned in so many instances in this website is curable when treated early. And that’s a good news indeed.

Early stage prostate cancer is generally depicted by the tumor growth still being confined to the prostate gland itself, at which point it can be caught and killed effectively; advanced stage prostate cancer is typified by disease metastasis through the bloodstream and lymphatic system, allowing it to invade various organs in the body, especially the bones, causing the later symptoms that come with advanced disease.

Treating advanced stage prostate cancer is often with the intention of palliating the patient, that is, extending his life, slowing the growth and progression of the disease, delaying the symptoms that cause him to suffer, and generally making him more comfortable as he… well, as he inevitably dies.

Usually the first treatment that may be considered for this purpose is hormonal therapy. Although also usable for early stage disease this intervention rarely ever cures the condition, which is why it is reserved for later stages.

Prostate cancer (at least the more common forms of it) depends on the hormones of the male sexual system to progress; without these hormones (testosterone, DHEA and DHT) that progression is stunted and the cancer may even shrink. Hormonal therapy removes the testicles (orchiectomy) to stop testosterone production, or uses antiandrogens to suppress the production of DHEA, DHT, GnRH and LH in the body, all hormones that are implicated in disease progression.

Should hormonal therapy fail, at least there is still chemotherapy. Chemo is not applicable for early stage disease because of the slow rate at which the cancer develops. Because the drugs administered by this treatment are intended to attack like cells that divide rapidly in the body, they may miss out on the actual tumor and attack healthy cells. They do this in fact even in this advanced stage of the disease, which is why most people lose their hairs and get mouth sores, and all of those other side effects of chemotherapy that are so well known.

There are other Prostate Cancer treatments too, most of which are aimed at extending life and relieving the symptoms of metastatic disease.

Abiraterone acetate causes a dramatic reduction in PSA levels and tumor sizes; bisphosphonates like zoledronic acid delays skeletal complications like fractures; alpharadin targets bone metastasis, prolongs patient survival times, reduces pain and improves quality of life; opioid pain relievers like oxydocone and morphine help the bone pain; and EBRT directed at bone metastases may provide pain relief.

And then there are the Injections of certain radioisotopes like strontium-89, phosphorus-32, and samarium-153, which also aim at bone metastases and try to help with pain relief.

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