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Radiation Margins CT vs MRI guided radiotherapy v proton
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: 3 days ago | Replies (25)Comment receiving replies
@brianjarvis The studies so far have not found that protons have an advantage over photons. I haven't read the studies, just the reports of the top line conclusion.
I've paid attention to oncologists who have access to and who use protons and photons, who say they don't see an advantage in using them for prostate cancer. They read all the fine print in the studies, and they have first hand experience in their own institutions where a lot of prostate caner patients are treated with photons, and protons.
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@climateguy The two recent studies that are usually referenced are COMPPARE and PARTIQoL. Both studies indicated similar tumor control rates and patient-reported quality of life outcomes.
What’s important to understand about clinical trials is that they’re great at providing a “big picture” view of what to expect from treatments. Since they sometimes represent tens of thousands of patients, insurance companies need that, hospitals need that, governments need that, etc., because they all need to estimate how to allocate scarce resources (dollars, equipment, staffing, etc.) based on the averages……not the best case; not the worst case.
But for what a specific patient (you or me) should expect our outcome should be from a particular treatment, they’re nearly worthless - without knowing how someone with a specific diagnosis, risk factors, comorbidities, regimen compliance, etc. compares to ours.