Is proton therapy advised if a second cancer is present?

Posted by mhperry @mhperry, Jul 24 9:09am

My 73-year-old husband has localized prostate cancer (grade group 4, stage T2a). Is proton therapy appropriate for him, period? He is also being monitored for Waldenstrom's MG. Does his lymphoma (which he is not yet being treated for) have any bearing on which prostate cancer treatment he should elect?

Thanks!
Thanks!

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mhperry | @mhperry | Jul 28 7:08pm

Hi!

I haven't gotten any responses. Who has advice for me?

5galloncan | @5galloncan | Jul 29 7:46am

In reply to @mhperry "Hi! I haven't gotten any responses. Who has advice for me?" + (show)

If I were your husband, I would contact UFHPTI in Jacksonville, FL. Fill out the Contact form. You'll get a FEDEX info packet in a couple of days. They can send for your husband's medical records. You can do ZOOM meeting with a proton therapy doctor. Ask for Dr. Bill Mendenhall.

westernflyer | @westernflyer | Jul 30 6:56am

I underwent proton radiation therapy in 2010. PSA: 6.47 with Gleason 3+3 Ti Slow growing prostate cancer.

From comments, readings and alot of discovery, it seems proton radiation is used for generally small area. How to define small is the question.

During my 2.5 months at Loma Linda Hospital in Loma Linda, California (near Riverside, CA), I was told the treatment of proton radiation was originally for children with brain cancer. Proton is precise, targeted, and not "threatening" to the surrounding cells. Loma Linda was a pioneer in proton radiation. The cost to build the cyclotron was over $200 million dollars. It spins to throw off the proton. The entire "machine" is as large as a football field I was told. I suspect improvements over the years.

So, my "guess" is the size of the cancer and if the cancer has spread within the entire prostate (the size of a walnut).

Lots of questions and each person is different. The recommendation for Univ of Fl is also recommended.

Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Aug 2 11:20am

@mhperry, what treatment options have been suggested for your husband given the 2 separate cancer diagnoses? Are his teams (hematology and urology oncology) working together?

mhperry | @mhperry | Aug 2 1:42pm

In reply to @colleenyoung "@mhperry, what treatment options have been suggested for your husband given the 2 separate cancer diagnoses?..." + (show)

Yes, his oncologist and urologist are working together. He's been advised to have a robotic prostatectomy. The other cancer will be treated with chemotherapy, but not until symptoms of the macroglobulinemia manifest, which hopefully will be a long time from now.