Anyone familiar with California Proton Center in San Diego

Posted by carlsbadguy @carlsbadguy, 15 hours ago

Does anyone have any experience with the California Proton Center in San Diego? It has a troubled financial history, I believe it had outside investors, Scripps Health was managing it from 2014-2017, then Scripps pulled out, the center went bankrupt, and a new set of investors put money into it and it is now affiliated with UCSD Health, and Rady's Children's. The medical director is Dr Carl Rossi, previously with Loma Linda and has performed over 14,000 prostate proton treatments, supposedly more than any Doctor in the world. Every single Doctor I have is affiliated with Scripps, including my urologist, MO and will be meeting with a very highly regarded Scripps RO next week for the first time, but he can only offer me IMRT. I like keeping all of my eggs in one basket, but having a local Proton center less than 30 minutes away has me second guessing where I should have my radiation performed. I'm 73, Gleason 8, GG4 with cribriform and IDC.

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gently | @gently | 14 hours ago

carlsbadguy, I had proton (for a different cancer) at CA Proton while it was Scripps and in bankruptcy.
Rossi has done more prostate proton treatments than any and has trained and set up many of the other proton centers. If you have a consultation with him, you'll find him wonderfully conversant and responsive.
I hasten to mention MRI guided photon. LA is a busy drive from Carlsbad but your might be able to have a lower dose of radiation with a shorter treatment period. You might take a consultation with Amar Kishan at UCLA. It is a 5 day treatment over 2 weeks. The MRIdian Viewray uses real time imaging to adjust to the ever moving prostate gland. The margins are closer than CT guidance which isn't real time.
Bless your choice with luck.

carlsbadguy | @carlsbadguy | 12 hours ago

Wow, I can't believe you were undergoing treatment during that time frame. Nothing like throwing a little more stress your way. Dr Rossi does come with world class receipts. I have given some thought to UCLA, but Carlsbad to Westwood would be a brutal round trip. If I decided to go that route, with the price of gas in So Cal, it would almost make sense to stay in LA. 🙂
Thanks for your input.

jc76 | @jc76 | 7 hours ago

@carlsbadguy
Don't know much about the San Diego center. I do know that a center called Loma Lima (can't be sure that is correct spelling) which was built back in 2006 and was one of the first centers to have proton radiation like UFHPTI in Jacksonville.

Have heard great things about Loma as well as where I went UFHPTI. Back in 2006 very few proton centers. Reasons, costs, and not covered by insurances. Now Medicare does cover proton radiation and many many centers have been built with latest equipment.

carter777 | @carter777 | 7 hours ago

Hi @carlsbadguy ,

I was treated by Dr. Rossi in January and February of 2025. I can highly recommend him and the CA Protons cancer care center. When I had my initial telehealth consult (from Minneapolis) with Dr. Rossi he spent over an hour with me discussing my case, proton therapy, SpaceOAR, diet regimen during radiation, and other associated topics. I asked many, many questions and he took the time to answer everything in detail. The more you can educate yourself before your consult the better the questions you will be able to ask. During my five and a half weeks of radiation I met with Dr. Rossi in person at the clinic each week to review progress and any issues. I really looked forward to these appointments. He is very personable and puts the patient's quality of life first. Regarding my course of hormone therapy, he recommended 18 months for me in line with NCCN guidelines for my case, but he told me right at the start I could stop the hormone therapy at any point if I could not tolerate it. I also met with the clinic's dietician, Holly Mott, each week during treatment to address any issues related to diet. Holly was wonderful too. The clinic also has mental health counseling available.

My prostate cancer case is Gleason 8, contained to the prostate; I do not have the additional serious issues of IDC and cribriform. I had 28 fractions of proton radiation to the prostate and pelvic lymph nodes, and completed 18 months of hormone therapy (Orgovyx) which I began about three months before commencing the radiation. (The three month lead time is not the norm. I started the hormone therapy early because of insurance issues, which the crack appeal team at the clinic got resolved.) My first post radiation PSA test was four months after completion of radiation. At that time, my PSA was undetectable at "< 0.04 ng/ml" (Quest Labs). I have had three subsequent PSA tests all with that same result. Last month I had my first testosterone test, one month since finishing the Orgovyx, and my testosterone had risen from 2 ng/dl to 34 ng/dl. Had another blood draw yesterday for PSA and testosterone and am waiting on those results.

Feel free to direct message me with any questions. I would be happy to discuss things in detail with you over the phone as well.

Bottom line: Dr. Rossi is an expert with vast experience with proton therapy and is such a wonderful person. I don't think you could find anyone better to treat you with protons. He does not see as many patients as he used to so you may have to wait six to eight weeks or so for an appointment. A consult with Dr. Rossi would be time very well spent whether you choose treatment by him or not. Also, if you do go with Dr. Rossi for treatment, I highly recommend having the SpaceOAR placement done by Dr. Steven Davis. He is another fine doctor at the clinic and is expert at that procedure.