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I have had IMRT salvage radiation, 8+ weeks. It is now 12 years later, The only side effect is incontinence which started six years after the radiation. I did have a prostatectomy before that so it could be the cause as well.
I had SBRT radiation on my spine about three years ago and had absolutely no side effects from that.
My brother had SBRT radiation on his prostate at 77. He’s now 80 and doing fine.
All of those were photon, not proton.
Now here is a Stanford study that we evaluated the results of photon radiation, Something that sort of confirms what the doctors said about their being a little difference.
In a study of about 145,000 men with prostate cancer, the team found that the rate of developing a later cancer is 0.5% higher for those who received radiation treatment than for those who did not. Among men who received radiation, 3% developed another cancer, while among those who were treated without radiation, 2.5% developed another cancer.
https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2022/070/prostate-radiation-slightly-increases-the-risk-of-developing-ano.html
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@jeffmarc From the data you are referencing it looks to me like there is very little to no difference from photon therapy or another therapy. Those differences would be difficult to tease out why the outcomes were slightly different. I like the studies because of the size, but don’t buy you can really tell much else.
I had SBRT Proton because it made more sense to me that photons could result in later cancers due to its trajectory through the body. Your data suggests otherwise. I also chose it because it seemed like less chance of urinary & other side effects. 5 months later it seems borne out, but I think it is too soon to draw conclusions on that.
I chose SBRT Proton because I couldn’t tell much difference between IMRT & SBRT in terms of outcomes. I understand the financial incentives for IMRT and chose SBRT. Certainly not having to go for 40+ sessions was a big plus. I’m 74 and planning on ending my ADT ‘early’ at 15+ months (9 before and 6 after) because none of the studies convince me that it will affect my longterm outcome. That remains to be seen.
I have followed and participated in this forum and feel I’ve gotten better first hand experiences, even if not entirely evidence driven than I’ve gotten from my doctors.