Comments on: Is High-Tech Cancer Therapy Too Costly?

Proton Beam Radiation Treatment Is At Heart Of Debate Over Rising Health-Care Costs

[registered2-2009]

It''s difficult to imagine that the USA spends billions of dollars for the war in Iraq and space exploration, yet CBS gripes about the cost of proton beam therapy which so far presents the best hope ever for cancer cure. When you or your loved ones are diagnosed with cancer, your whole world turns upside down as such diagnosis is like a death sentence. Unless you have been a cancer victim, you can never fathom and appreciate the joy and relief of getting a second chance in life with your family with no side effects. My husband was treated for prostate cancer at Loma Linda University Medical Center in 2006. His psa went from 48 down to 0.07; from our experience, THERE IS NO PRICE TAG FOR THIS CANCER CURE! Thank you!

[registered2-2009]

It''s difficult to imagine that the USA spends billions of dollars for the war in Iraq and space exploration, yet CBS gripes about the cost of proton beam therapy which so far presents the best hope ever for cancer cure. When you or your loved ones are diagnosed with cancer, your whole world turns upside down as such diagnosis is like a death sentence. Unless you have been a cancer victim, you can never fathom and appreciate the joy and relief of getting a second chance in life with your family with no side effects. My husband was treated for prostate cancer at Loma Linda University Medical Center in 2006. His psa went from 48 down to 0.07; from our experience, THERE IS NO PRICE TAG FOR THIS CANCER CURE! Thank you!

[fredagnir]

If any cheaper cancer therapy can match proton in BOTH cure rate and patient quality of life, then that''s the way to go. Anything short of that - no contest whatsoever.

Anyway, we should realize that there are high start-up costs for any wortwhile innovation. But as these innovations catch on, research and production costs come down. Because of initial costs, should we have given up on space exploration, nuclear research, microcomputers, ad nauseam? No, thank God. Proton treatment belongs to that category. Not only have new techniques become less expensive after the test of time, the sharing of knowledge and refinement of techniques. Such innovations generate a chain reaction in the form of new discoveries that benefit the human race.

The best evidence of any new treatment''s success is when others adopt it. The wisdom of doing so is directly proportional to the risk, in this case the high start-up cost. Loma Linda, thanks to the support of the Seventh Day Adventist Church and the state of California, bravely took the step of pioneering the treatment and for fifteen or so years, the rest of the medical world watched and waited. And now, new proton treatment centers are sprouting all over the world. Need we say more?

The Rev. Dr. Federico Agnir
Prostate Cancer survivor
Treated at Loma Linda January 2003

[journeydog-2009]

I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2004. After careful research I chose proton treatment at Loma Linda University Medical Center. My treatment was successful and without any invasive surgery or harmful radiation.

I''ve met people who were saved by proton when surgery was impossible to treat their brain tumor. Why must the media make the expense of this treatment the focus of stories? It is clearly a superior treatment for many forms of cancer. How can we put a price on that?

How can you set a value on the quality of life afforded by having proton treatment instead of surgery, or the length of life proton gives those with inoperable cancers? For what it costs to send one person on a space trip, proton treatment could improve or save many thousands of lives.

Focusing on the cost is not focusing on the true aspects of this proven treatment method. How about a story which tells of the thousands of persons who''ve been treated with proton therapy at Loma Linda and elsewhere who are so deeply grateful that this treatment exists?

Anyone who asks the question, "is proton worth the cost?" has not talked with enough proton patients, and has likely been listening to proponents of other less costly types of cancer treatments - who claim their methods are just as good. They are not.

Bill Vancil, Madison, WI

[kalajuco]

My niece was diagnosed with Astrocytoma and had a million dollar surgery. They basically opened her skull up and closed her up and said she had a few months to live(that the tumor was inoperable). She had proton radiation 7 yrs ago and is cancer free. I had successful proton radiation on my prostate with no side effects. My brother has seed implant for his prostate cancer and had many side effects and eventually had to have his bladder and prostate removed. Our family feels very strongly positive about Proton Treatment

[go_blue_mi]

My parent was treated with proton therapy for lung cancer with no side effects. Here is why.

X-rays used in x-ray therapy goes completely through the body. Thus it damages the normal tissue before reaching the cancer and continues to damage the normal tissue beyond the cancer as it travels out the other side of the body.

Protons stops after damages the cancer, it doesn%u2019t exit the cancer, and thus does not damages normal tissue beyond the cancer.

One way to understand proton therapy is to compare its properties with the other 2 types of cancer therapies, chemotherapy and surgery.

With chemotherapy, it can%u2019t stop going beyond the cancer and damages normal tissue such as the gut (Nausea/vomiting), bone marrow (loss of blood cells) and hair follicles (baldness). Wouldn%u2019t it be great if they had a chemotherapy that stopped like protons?

With surgery, they do stop after reaching the cancer like proton therapy. We wouldn%u2019t accept a technique that continues cutting beyond the cancer to the other side of the body just because we can%u2019t stop cutting.

Proton therapy may cost more as the initial treatment, but not curing cancer or causing side effects cost more, not just in medical expenses, but in so many other ways.

1,400,000 Americans will get cancer each year with over = getting x-ray therapy. The existing proton centers can only treat a few thousand patients per year. Good luck getting in.

[michaelf350-2009]

CBS failed to tell the whole story and mearly looked at the up front dollar cost without even mentioning the totally debilitating side effects of standard surgical procedures. I wonder, would CBS executives opt for a quick surgery with subsequent impotence, incontinence, bowel disfunction, wearing a catheter for several weeks, and the constant fight against infection in lieu of a proven process with 18 years of proven results and less chance for recurrence after five years than the other processes? Protons are Medicaid approved and many insurance companies pay for the treatment also. Quality of life never seems to be addressed any more except by only a very few enlightened physicians. Doesn''t the physician pledge first of all to do no harm? Just because the proton process isn''t done at a particular doctor''s office is no reason not to recommend the process that gives the best outcome for the patient. When I speak at cancer support groups, there are usually some very upset people who are angry because their doctors never told them something else was available. Maybe you sohould add some information about medical ethics in your piece? Protons are sucessfully used to treat 41 different cancers and the results are published. Ask your doctor for his success rates and results and he will not share them with you because of the privacy act.

[reauxbeaux1]

As a "young" 49 year old, I was diagnosed with prostrate cancer in August of 2005. After talking with my urologist as well as several people that used conventional treatment and were struggling with colostomy bags, impotence, incontinence and other maladies, I elected to have proton beam treatment at Loma Linda University Medical Clinic. I am convinced it maintained my quality of life and will give me an extra 40 years to enjoy my wife, children, and grandchildren without the devastating side effects of other treatments. There is absolutely no argument to be made to me that the treatment, albeit expensive, is not worth every penny.

[fspruell425]

Your story on Proton Treatment is very misleading. It says that Proton Treatment of Prostate Cancer, which is a leading killer of men today,is too expensive. WRONG! How can you put a price on "NO SIDE EFFECTS" during, OR AFTER, treatment. No other treatment regimen for Prostate cancer can make that claim. I was treated for Prostate Cancer by Proton Therapy in June, 2004, and my cancer is "cured", with no side effects during treatment or since. No impotence, no incontinence. My PSA dropped from 6.8 to 0.1, where it remains today. I challenge you to find another treatment therapy that can make that claim. How can you put a price on that degree of "quality of life"? Proton Therapy is the best treatment available today for almost all kinds of cancer, period. The cost is justified! Thank you,

Fred Spruell

[malcolm731]

I was treated for stage III prostate cancer almost 4 years ago at Loma Linda Proton Center and have no problems usually asociated with prostate cancer treatment. I have four cousins and my late father who also had prostate cancer and surgery to cure it. All suffered incontinence and erectile dysfunction.
During my treatment a 6 year old boy was treated for a brain tumor that the Doctors said was inoperable. Proton therapy gave him a life.
Quality of life is paramount for all of us and Proton therapy certainly gives us that.
Proton beam radiation is also an effective treatment for many other tumors without causing "collateral damage".
For the best life after cancer I chose Proton...and very pleased!

[gotennis]

To beat any cancer at any age and with any means avaible is certainly worth the cost to the patient. To win the battle with NO undesireable side effects is priceless. Proton therapy at Loma Linda Hospital not only saved my life, but gave me a quality of life that can''t be measured in money.

[wyo_lady]

I was diagnosed breast cancer Stage I in 1993. In 2001 it metastasized to my C-6 vertebrae - Stage IV. Without proton at Loma Linda University Medical Center would I still be here? No matter the cost, it is the life of this daughter, sister, wife, mother, and grandmother. I am still young and going strong nearly 7 years from proton. I saw SO much good done with so many people getting their treatment while there myself getting treatment. For most, the side effects are nearly nul. Previous non-proton treatments had so many bad and costly side effects. I strongly recommend proton to anyone if they qualify for proton treatment.

[buildergirl1]

How can you put a cost on saving a life? If these had been around when my mother was diagnosed in the early 80''s, she would still be here today. Instead her four daughter''s (ranging in age from 15-9) spent the most important years of their life motherless.

I''m involved with building one of these new proton therapy institutes and I am looking forward to the day it opens for business!

[dot211]

When you talk about cost of protons you have to also consider the cost of side effects caused by the alternatives, especially radiation treatments. With cancer - and especially cancers in children - there are very often long-term side effects of radiation therapy including more tumors caused by, ironically, the radiation. For the young woman in the story, the cost of not having proton therapy was death, but also probably lots of money spent on other treatments or being in the hospital as doctors tried to save her. The sad part about the cost of proton therapy is that so few have built it and few can be treated.

[collins1946]

Actually, you could have done a whole segment on ALL of the machines that hospitals use. There is Gamma Knife, which was used on me April 18, 2006 for a Vestibular Schwannom, a tumor on my balance and/or hearing nerve.(also called Acoustic Neuroma), Cyber Knife, and Proton Beam (LINEAR ACCELERATED [LINAC])My treatment cost $66,000 and change. Insurance paid for most of it. Microsurgery would have been about the same price, and possibly a lot more if I''d had complications and ended up in the ICU for an extended period of time. In my case, Radiosurgery was far more desirable than opening up my head! It''s an amazing world we live in.

Stereotactic Radiation Therapy (Radiosurgery):

This is a technique based on the principle that a single relatively high dose of radiation delivered precisely to a small area will arrest or kill the tumor while minimizing injury to the surrounding nerves & brain tissue. The source of radiation is from either radioactive cobalt (called gamma ray) or a linear accelerator (LINAC)

[bethyannep]

I first read Rianta''s story on www.meningiomamommas.org which is a website/bulletin board for those diagnosed with & the care givers of meningiomas. The site has been invaluable to me through my diagnosis and surgery as it has been to many others, including Rianta!
Hers is a powerful story, we all cheer her victory at Meningioma Mommas!
Momma Beth