Proton Therapy For Prostate Cancer Locations

What You Need To Know About The Prostate Proton Therapy Prostate Cancer Locations

A enlarged prostate can also cause blockages in the urethra. A blocked urethra can also damage the kidneys. A patient suffering from an enlargement of the prostate may have pain in his lower abdomen and genitals. If pain is present, a digital rectal examination will reveal hard areas. A doctor may prescribe surgery or perform an endoscopic procedure. If the enlarged prostate is not completely removed, it will shrink.

While the size of an enlarged prostate will influence the extent of urinary symptoms, men may experience a range of urinary symptoms. Some men have minimal or no symptoms at all. Some men will have a very enlarged prostate, whereas others will have a mild enlargement. Generally, the symptoms can stabilize over time. Some men may have an enlarged prostate but not notice it. If they have an enlarged colon, their physician can perform a TURP procedure.

What Proton Therapy Treats

Proton beam therapy offers fewer side effects and more precisely targets the area to be treated, even for hard-to-reach tumors that may be very close to vital organs and tissues. Upright proton therapy will enable the treatment to be delivered to patients as they are sitting, offering better comfort, while enabling even greater accuracy.The precision of proton therapy, and its ability to protect healthy tissue, make it a great option to treat:

• Hard-to-reach tumors

• Tumors not readily treatable with surgery

Many types of cancer respond well to proton therapy. They include:

Proton therapy may also be effective if your cancer remains or returns after traditional radiation.

Experts at the UW Carbone Cancer Center intimately understand every type of cancer. We will get to know you and design a treatment plan that works for you and your family.

Eastpark Medical Center

Risk Factors And Prevention

Risk factors such as age, ethnicity, and family history have been known to influence the chances of a person developing prostate cancer. However, it should be noted that risk factors dont have a direct impact on the development of cancer.

Men over the age of 50 are more likely to develop prostate cancer. In fact, 80% of people who are diagnosed with prostate cancer are over the age of 65.

According to the CDC, African American men are more likely to be at risk for prostate cancer and are more likely to develop aggressive tumors. On the other hand, Caucasian men are just under the average rate of prostate cancer diagnoses. Likewise, Hispanic men also have a lower risk. People of Asian and Pacific Islander descent have the lowest risk of developing prostate cancer.

A family history of prostate cancer can also have an impact on your chances of developing cancer. Only 5% of prostate cancer cases are inherited, but up to 20% of cases are familial, meaning common lifestyle factors and shared genes may have had an influence on the development of cancer.

While risk factors dont have a direct impact on the development of prostate cancer, they can motivate you to monitor your lifestyle more closely. To lower your risk of developing prostate cancer, its recommended to eat a low-fat diet and exercise regularly. However, its best to monitor your health by receiving routine checkups and prostate screenings from your doctor.

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Steam Therapy For Enlarged Prostate

Steam therapy is a safe and minimally invasive treatment option for patients living with benign prostatic hyperplasia . It offers an effective treatment step between medication and surgery.

BPH is one of the top 10 most common and costly conditions affecting 14 million American men aged 50 or older, with nearly a million new diagnoses each year. BPH causes significant quality of life issues including lack of sleep, anxiety, challenges with sexual function and limits to daily activities.

How does it work?

Rezum uses the natural energy stores in water vapor, or steam, to treat the enlarged and obstructive prostate tissue that causes BPH symptoms such as frequency, urgency, irregular urine flow, weak urine stream, straining, and getting up at night to urinate. The water vapor is delivered into the targeted prostate tissue and condenses, causing the tissue to expire. In the weeks following a Rezum procedure, the body’s natural healing response eliminates the treated tissue, shrinking the prostate. As the extra tissue is removed, the urethra opens back up, reducing BPH symptoms and improving the patient’s quality of life.

Benefits of steam therapy include:

• Preserves sexual function
• Offers a rapid return to normal activities.
• Provides lasting symptom relief

Proton Treatment And Research Center

What our patients are saying

I came in every day for two weeks, was there for about a half-hour each time, then went home or to work… Everyone was just wonderful: very professional, yet very warm. At Loma Linda, people get it they know how a patient feels. They have empathy here, and sensitivity.

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Recovering From Prostate Cancer Treatment

If youve been through first-line treatment but still have cancer, your doctor will adjust your treatment accordingly.

After surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy, you may be cancer-free. However, youll still require monitoring for any signs of cancer recurrence. If youve been taking hormone therapy, you may also need to continue to do so.

Periodic prostate-specific antigen testing can help figure out the effectiveness of hormone therapy. The pattern of PSA levels can also help monitor for recurrence.

The process of recovery is different for everyone. Much of recovery depends on the stage of diagnosis and the extent of treatment. Your age and general health also play a role. Your doctor will take all these factors into consideration to give you an idea of what to expect, including:

• the schedule for follow-up exams and tests
• how to deal with short- and long-term side effects
• diet and other lifestyle recommendations
• signs and symptoms of recurrence

What Are The Best Proton Beam Centers In Europe

Proton beam therapy is a quite new treatment option, and is available not in every European medical center.

Among the most popular proton treatment centers in Europe are:

• Rinecker Proton Therapy Center . It is the 1st certified proton beam center in Europe, serves about 2,000 patients annually.
• Proton Therapy Center .

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Is Proton Therapy Safer Than Traditional Radiation

Traditional radiation therapy delivers radiation to the tumor and to healthy tissues around the tumor. With proton therapy , the majority of the radiation is delivered to the tumor.

A type of radiation treatment called proton beam radiation therapy may be safer and just as effective as traditional radiation therapy for adults with advanced cancer. That finding comes from a study that used existing patient data to compare the two types of radiation.

Traditional radiation delivers x-rays, or beams of photons, to the tumor and beyond it. This can damage nearby healthy tissues and can cause significant side effects.

Plus, proton therapy is more expensive than traditional radiation, and not all insurance companies cover the cost of the treatment, given the limited evidence of its benefits. Nevertheless, 31 hospitals across the country have spent millions of dollars building proton therapy centers, and many advertise the potential, but unproven, advantages of the treatment.

In the new study, patients treated with proton therapy were much less likely to experience severe side effects than patients treated with traditional radiation therapy. There was no difference in how long the patients lived, however. The results were published December 26 in JAMA Oncology.

These results support the whole rationale for proton therapy, said the studys lead investigator, Brian Baumann, M.D., of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Pennsylvania.

Why Choose Us For Prostate Cancer Care

• Prostate cancer specialists: Because our team is subspecialized in prostate cancer, you get the most comprehensive, most personalized care plan available.
• Unparalleled in proton therapy: Weâve treated over 10,000 prostate cancer patients using proton therapy more than any other center in the world.
• Leaders in robotic surgery: Our surgeons perform more minimally-invasive robotic surgeries each year than those at any other teaching hospital in the West.
• State-of-the-art tech: As the largest urology group in the region, we offer you access to the most advanced technology available.
• Clinical trials: You have access to many clinical trials for prostate cancer, which may offer potential new treatments.

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Cancers Treated With Proton Therapy

Proton therapy is useful for treating tumors that have not spread and are near important parts of the body. For instance, cancers near the brain and spinal cord. It is also used for treating children because it lessens the chance of harming healthy, growing tissue. Children may receive proton therapy for cancers of the brain and spinal cord. It is also used for cancer of the eye, such as retinoblastoma and orbital rhabdomyosarcoma.

Proton therapy also may be used to treat these cancers:

• Central nervous system cancers, including chordoma, chondrosarcoma, and malignant meningioma

• Eye cancer, including uveal melanoma or choroidal melanoma

• Head and neck cancers, including nasal cavity and paranasal sinus cancer and some nasopharyngeal cancers

• Spinal and pelvic sarcomas, which are cancers that occur in the soft-tissue and bone

• Noncancerous brain tumors

What Are The Benefits Of Proton Therapy

The key benefit of proton therapy is the ability to more precisely target the tumor cells. Research shows that proton therapy results in a higher dose of radiation to the tumor but significantly less radiation to healthy cells near the tumor. With less healthy tissue affected by the radiation, side effects may be milder, and there is less risk of developing secondary cancers due to radiation.

Thanks to this precision targeting, proton therapy offers additional benefits:

• Protecting important neurological functions like speech or memory when a tumor is close to the areas that control these functions
• Minimizing radiation to vital organs such us the heart and lungs when treating cancers of the breast or spine
• Reducing the risks for children with cancer, who often suffer lasting side effects from toxic cancer treatments
• Helping to avoid more radiation to areas that previously had radiation, in case a tumor comes back close to or in its original location

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Surgical procedures to remove the diseased prostate are usually necessary. Surgical procedures are not always necessary. If the disease is caused by bacterial infections, a doctor can treat the symptoms using alpha-blockers or surgery. Physical therapy, relaxation exercises, and warm baths are all recommended. A physician may also prescribe antibiotics to cure the infection. A bacterial infection can also cause a recurrence of the condition.

An enlarged prostate can be uncomfortable for both men and women. Some of the symptoms of an enlarged male reproductive organ include a weakened urine stream, urgent need to urinate, and urinary tract infections. BPH can also cause damage to the kidneys. A sudden inability to urinate can be life-threatening, as it can lead to bladder and kidney damage. Unfortunately, most men with enlarged prostrates put up with the symptoms for years before they seek treatment. However, many of the men with symptoms finally decide to go to a doctor for proper gynecological evaluation and to begin enlarged prostatic therapy.

How Do I Know If I Am A Candidate For Proton Therapy

The key to proton therapy is to know when it truly is the best treatment option. The medical care team at MSK has experience and access to every form of modern radiation therapy and will recommend proton therapy when it is truly the best choice for the patient.

To find out if proton therapy is right for you, call .

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Proton Therapy For Prostate Cancer Locations

The only other thing I was drinking in the first 6 months after my diagnosis was green tea. I would drink about 4 glasses of green tea daily to go along with the increased water intake. I wasnt putting any other liquid into my body for the first 6 months. This was a big help in starting my road to recovery.

Once I started feeling better then I added organic soy milk to my diet as well. Soy milk isnt much like regular milk but once you get used to it then its not bad at all. To this day these are the only 3 liquids I have in my diet. To recap the 3 liquids I drink today are purified water,green tea,& organic soy milk. I put no other liquids into my body period.

Now, I want to chat a little more about meat & other aspects of a proper diet. As I said we dont need meat to live. I thought cutting or limiting meat in my diet would be to hard to accomplish. Well again my thinking was wrong. Was it easy? No! However, after a couple weeks then things were starting to get easier. I didnt cut all meats out of my diet but I did cut certain meats & eat moderate amounts of all others.

One meat that needs to be completely cut or at least very minimized is red meat . Too much Red meat consumption is not good for prostate health. I was eating a lot of fast food burgers & also red meat at home. I will say to at least cut red meat completely out of your diet until you get your prostate health back.

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Symptomatic treatment of an enlarged prostate usually involves a combination of medication and lifestyle changes. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables may be the best option if you suffer from chronic urination. It will help the body adjust to the increased size of the prostate. Also, taking regular urination intervals will help retrain the bladder to function properly. Inactivity also contributes to urine retention, and cold temperatures can increase the urge to urinate.

Invasive treatment of enlarged prostate includes medication that relieves the pressure on the urethra and bladder. However, if the condition is severe, it may require surgical intervention. If treatment is not successful, the enlarged prostate can become a potentially life-threatening disease. As the hormone levels in the body change, the enlarged prostate can lead to various complications, including urinary retention and even cancer. This is why it is critical to see a doctor for further evaluation.

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How Is Proton Therapy Delivered

Proton therapy is delivered by a device called a cyclotron, which sends a high-energy beam of protons through the skin toward the tumor. At Memorial Sloan Kettering, the first step is a CT or MRI scan to map the tumor in three dimensions. Then our radiation oncologists, in close collaboration with medical physicists, use computer programs to calculate how to deliver the treatment at the precise dose and location.You will receive proton therapy in a special treatment room, where you will be positioned on a treatment table. An immobilization device will make sure you stay in the exact position on the table.

What Is Proton Therapy For Prostate Cancer

Proton therapy for prostate cancer is a treatment option that involves using a focused ray of proton particles to destroy cancerous tissues. The treatment is capable of delivering precise, high doses of radiation to accurately target cancer cells without causing damage to healthy tissue surrounding the prostate.

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Proton Therapy Vs Other Treatments

Which treatment you should have is not as simple as comparing proton therapy to chemotherapy, surgery, or hormone treatments. Each serves a specific purpose.

Your treatment will depend, in large part, on how aggressive the cancer is and its stage at diagnosis. Other things to consider are:

• previous treatments
• other health conditions that might interfere with certain treatments

Proton therapy is more expensive and not widely available. Your doctor will look at the total picture when recommending treatment.

Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy

This technique uses advanced image guided techniques to deliver large doses of radiation to a precise area, such as the prostate. Because there are large doses of radiation in each dose, the entire course of treatment is given over just a few days.

SBRT is often known by the names of the machines that deliver the radiation, such as Gamma Knife, X-Knife, CyberKnife, and Clinac.

The main advantage of SBRT over IMRT is that the treatment takes less time . The side effects, though, are not better. In fact, some research has shown that some side effects might actually be worse with SBRT than with IMRT.

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Who Are They Looking For

This study is looking for people who have been diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the prostate within the last year. Only patients with early stage tumors will be accepted.

Patients with cancer spread beyond the prostate, who already underwent surgery, radiation therapy or chemotherapy cannot take part in this trial. Patients who received hormone therapy will also be excluded. Other conditions, such as autoimmune diseases , HIV infection, inflammatory bowel disease and previous hip replacement surgery also represent exclusion criteria.

Proton Therapy Vs Traditional Radiation Therapy

So, what makes proton therapy so much more successful than other prostate cancer treatments? The answer lies in the protons themselves.

Unlike proton therapy, traditional radiation treatment uses photons, which deliver low levels of radiation to the cancer tissues. These lower levels of radiation, in addition to the lower mass of the beam in comparison to a proton treatment, mean the radiation will cause damage to both the cancerous tissue and the surrounding healthy tissue.

On the other hand, proton therapy uses positively charged subatomic particles called protons, which are located in the nucleus of an atom. Because the mass of the proton beam is higher than the photon beam, a clinician can control the proton radiation in the patients body. The electrons in the patients body slow down the protons delivered from the beam. This results in an energy release that can destroy cancerous tissue, but avoid unnecessary radiation to surrounding areas. Unlike traditional radiation therapy, the clinician can use the proton beam to target the cancer cells in the body specifically, allowing for a more successful and far less damaging procedure.

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