Proton Therapy travel and recommendation

Is proton therapy a successful option for ovarian cancer that has spread to the pelvic area ? My ovarian cancer 3 years out with various treatments has spread to my pelvic area but my oncologist said proton therapy was not effective for my cancer. Low grade serous carcinoma. But cancer just keeps on spreading and none of the recommended treatments seem to help?

Hi @mary636, here’s an article from MD Anderson about proton beam therapy and gynecologic cancers:
- Proton Therapy for Gynecologic Cancer https://www.mdanderson.org/patients-family/diagnosis-treatment/care-centers-clinics/proton-therapy-center/conditions-we-treat/gynecologic-cancer.html

Proton beam therapy may not be an option for all stages of ovarian cancer.

You may also be interested in these discussions:
- Serous adenocarcinoma: What does it mean? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/serous-carcinoma/
- Ovarian Cancer: Should I go on Maintenance Therapy? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/maintenance-therapy/

My husband just finished 25 proton radiation treatments for stomach cancer. We live in the Twin Cities about 1 1/2 hours from Mayo. We decided to rent a house for 5 weeks and come home on weekends. If that's affordable for you it might be worth looking into. There is also Hope Lodge beside Mayo where you can stay for free. You would need to look into that before you need it. There's probably a waiting list.

Thanks. Currently I am on a trial for minoxidil treatment but if it does not work, I will make a decision to seek other treatments

Hi Coleen I have a tumor on my spine between L3 & L5 with an expandable cage in place of L4.
18 down 12 to go!

Hi Colleen
Im being treated for Chordoma cancer. I started Proton Therapy on Dec. 19 and finished up Jan 31st. (Sorry it took so long to get back to you). I’m doing ok, I asked my Oncology Dr. (Ivy) “how do we know its working?” And was told we won’t know until I come back in May for a follow up MRI, and Dr appointment. The therapist said I need to find a NEW Normal. And my surgeon who found the tumor said i might have nerve damage on my left side. (I had 3 surgeries in a 15 day period, and was home for a few days when the 1st surgery was infected. He fixed the infection but there was a small tear under the tumor. Someone in Rochester said “WOW it 3 times to get it right.” Sorry I’m rambling. I really want to find a book about “ finding my new normal”. Any Suggestion. Thanks for taking an interest. Tom

I stumbled across this thread by accident, but since it mentioned the travel challenges associated with multiple radiation sessions, I wanted to post this link as something to follow in the future:

From the article, the point of interest here is FLASH RADIATION:
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"Koumenis and dozens of other research teams have been testing "flash radiation," which uses ultra-high dose rate beams of energy to zap tumor cells. Patients might get the same amount of radiation in just two to four sessions of less than 1 second each.

"The vulnerability of the tumor cells is essentially the same," Koumenis said. "What's different is the normal tissue is more resistant to the flash radiation."

...

Koumenis and teams in Europe have been testing flash radiation in pets. They've shown that they can efficiently and safely deliver these high-dose rate beams in dogs and cats with sarcomas and head and neck cancers.

The first human trial, which started about two years ago, showed that the approach was safe and feasible in 10 patients whose cancer had spread to their bones. Additional human trials are ongoing or are being planned in the next two to three years.

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Constantinos Koumenis = professor of radiation biology at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine.

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Here's hoping this will both increase the effectiveness and reduce the travel burden of radiation therapy. 🙂