Connect
← Return to PC treatment: Prostatectomy or Proton Beam Therapy
Discussion
PC treatment: Prostatectomy or Proton Beam Therapy
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: Jan 22 11:40am | Replies (47)Comment receiving replies
@bens1 Mack Roach is quite critical of the MIRAGE trial
His critique starts at minute 15:00 and goes to 24:45 https://www.youtube.com/watch
He started out his remarks saying: "I have great respect for the investigators. Dr Kishan is one of the top young people coming up. But the study is problematic."
After describing his objections, he sums up:
"...they haven't convinced me that it's any advantage. I mean if it's the most convenient place for you to go and you think the doctor is good go for it but don't be convinced that you need to travel to a distant location so you can get this MRI guided treatment"
More about Mack Roach: https://www.ucsfhealth.org/providers/mack-roach
Quoting from the bio: [ He is a ] "global authority on treatment planning for prostate cancer. Roach served as senior author for the American College of Radiology's guidelines on the subject."
My RO has a view similar to Dr. Roach. I haven't completely made up my mind, except that I am certain that I know less than any of the oncologists I pay attention to on either side of this MRI-Linac debate.
Replies to "@bens1 Mack Roach is quite critical of the MIRAGE trial His critique starts at minute 15:00..."
Connect
@climateguy It's a challenge with newer devices, because better technical specs don't necessarily lead to better 5- or 10-year outcomes. And for obvious reasons, it takes a long time to collect that data.
PSMA-PET scans and proton-beam radiation are two examples of expensive technology that looks far superior on paper, but has failed so far to demonstrate improved longer-term outcomes for most patients (though that could change as more data becomes available).