PROTON BEAM THERAPY

I believe studies have shown that Proton works no better than Photon radiation for treating prostate cancer...Outcomes are pretty much the same, side-effects are pretty much the same...What is NOT the same is the cost..All RT is expensive but Proton is REALLY expensive..Therefore, you can expect a lot of resistance from your insurance company when it comes to approving it...

Ditto. Offers no advantage over any of the photon methods. IMRT/IGRT/SBRT/HDRBT/seeds. All are great for most with much lower cost than proton. ASTRO the radiation oncology society only suggests proton for trials not routine treatment.

Why not AS? All of us that have gone through treatment would give most anything to be a G6 with one or two cores. Please help him procrastinate......for a decade or two.

I would suggest that your relative spend some time on various prostate cancer forums and fully inform himself of the side effects of radical treatment that so many men complain about.

There are no side effects with active surveillance, and no additional risk of mortality if the cancer is later discovered to be greater than first diagnosed. This assumes enrollment in as formal AS program, such as at Johns Hopkins.

I understand that everyone is different, but the "peace of mind" of having the cancer out may be overshadowed by the fact of being unnecessarily overtreated and left with a significantly lower quality of life.

Sorry to preach, but I've read far too much about side effects to consider treatment unless certain wires were tripped, and those are a lot higher than where he is at now.

AS and Andrew,

I agree with you all that he should consider AS.

I will again try to get him to get onto this wonderful site HW and hopefully he will consider AS.

BOOGEE