Thanks to a follower in Florida for bringing this to our attention -- it's a piece of information that may help prostate cancer patients -- plus it brings up an issue that we can all use a reminder about.
When you have been diagnosed with a disease or condition that will require any long term or invasive type of therapy, like a drug that you'll take for a long time, or surgery, then it's entirely possible that you won't learn of all your treatment options from your doctor. Your doctor may withhold information about some of those possibilities for a variety of reasons, both fair - and some not so savory. But an empowered patient wants to know about them all.
This heads up is about a prostate cancer treatment that very few men ever learn about, even though it may be a good treatment for them. It's called proton therapy, and it involves a specific and pinpoint-targeted form of radiation. Its proponents will tell you that it is so well-targeted that it eliminates the well known, uncomfortable and embarrassing side effects that more traditional prostate cancer treatments cause.
Why are so few men told about it? Follow the money. They aren't told because there are only six locations in the United States where it can be administered, and 99% of those doctors who treat prostate cancer, usually urologists, don't have capability to administer proton therapy. When they can't provide the treatment, then they can't make any money from it. Or they make judgments on behalf of the patient (his insurance won't cover it, or he can't afford to travel....) Too often, that means it's not mentioned to the patient -- even though the patient should be a part of the decision.
Proton therapy has been used successfully for prostate cancer, plus some cancers of the eye, the head and neck, and some lung cancers. It is considered a "mature therapy" since it has been used around the world for more than 40 years.
Proton therapy isn't the only treatment patients don't hear about from their doctors. There are any number of available treatments that patients must uncover for themselves for a variety of diseases. They may be standard treatments, complementary or alternative, off-label or even new treatments that your doctor hasn't heard about yet.
Have you worked hard to learn more about possibilities for your own treatment? Have you discussed additional possibilities with your doctor? Have you followed the process for making your treatment decisions? It's important.
You don't want to find out when it's too late that you could have benefited from something you never knew about.
(Update 3/8/10: A great background piece on proton beam therapy from Cure Magazine.)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Learn more or join the conversation!
NEWSLETTER | FORUM | BIO | TWITTER | FACEBOOK
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Photo © Potis - Fotolia.com
