← Return to Starting Proton Treatments for Prostate Cancer: Any experiences?

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@4rs I am curious what your reason is for the preference of proton therapy? Any chance of mentioning what your insurance carrier is?

My pet scan is tomorrow, oncologist is the next day (at Mayo Rochester). So far everything points to no spread outside the prostate. I have multiple prior surgeries that make surgical options higher risk, so I'm leaning toward radiation therapy but worried insurance won't cover proton therapy.

I'm still in the self-research stage as I haven't seen the oncologist yet. I understand that the accuracy of the proton beam appears to make it the best option if cancer is contained, but I would think the lack of focus of photon radiation could be a benefit to catch any nearby cancer if it has started to spread out of the prostate. But then again, I'm also worried that proton won't be approved by my insurance so may just be trying to rationalize accepting a different treatment.

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Replies to "@4rs I am curious what your reason is for the preference of proton therapy? Any chance..."

@karrows proton preferred in my case to minimize “collateral damage” to healthy tissue. As an example, my pelvic lymph nodes are positive and need radiated. With the bowel being in such close proximity, proton would presumably result in less damage to the bowel versus photon. While both options are effective when it comes to neutralizing cancer cells, proton therapy is more targeted and doesn’t pass all the way through the body like photon therapy. I initially had the same thought as you regarding a potential “benefit” with photon therapy to catch any nearby “floaters,” but was told the amount of radiation that hits surrounding tissue is enough to damage the healthy tissue, but not enough to “kill” any floaters. Thus, no real benefit; only more collateral damage. That being said, photon has come a long way and the odds for long-term damage are much better than several years ago. I hope PET scan brings good news for you.