Blog
08/05/2019
Protons 101: An Example of a CNS Tumor Proton Therapy Plan
Today we’ll look at a place where there actually are not large studies showing significant benefits to proton therapy. So if you don’t think protons are better, you could easily use this disease site to state that there is very little evidence of improvement in outcomes with the use of…
Read more08/01/2019
Real Men Wear Pink Campaign
Today, I’m announcing my “Real Men Wear Pink Campaign” to help raise money to fight breast cancer. OFFICIAL LINK TO MY AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY PAGE. The campaign will run from August – October as we hold events to raise money and awareness regarding breast cancer and the risk and…
Read more07/26/2019
Protons 101: An example of a breast cancer proton therapy plan
Today, we’ll walk through images from a breast cancer proton plan. From a technical standpoint, Its a unique case for a number of reasons but it does showcase some places and ways in which proton plans greatly outperform what we can accomplish using a traditional linear accelerator with either photons…
Read more07/18/2019
Protons 101: Prostate Cancer - Too many choices, not enough direction.
Note: Today is an opinion piece on options for prostate cancer. It is MUCH more opinion based than some other entries on the blog – just a note. I still think the topic is valuable and writing these helps me to organize my thinking. Today, we’ll look at options…
Read more07/08/2019
Protons 101: What is radiation therapy?
DISCLAIMER / About the Blog – Please read once if you haven’t. The Three Primary Treatment Options for Cancer Patients The 3 main oncology (cancer) physician specialties are: Surgical Oncology: removes the cancer or the majority of it with an operation Radiation…
Read more06/25/2019
Protons 101: Is Proton Therapy the best radiation option for me?
DISCLAIMER / About the Blog – Please read once if you haven’t. Today we will touch on really one the first questions that a cancer patient might have – are protons right for me? Notice that in that statement I use the phrase “we will touch”…
Read more06/05/2019
Protons 101: Proton Therapy cuts severe side effects for patients by well over 50% - New study results
BRIAN BAUMANN/MIKE WORFULA new study led by Brian Baumann, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, found that proton therapy (bottom) is associated with fewer severe side effects than conventional X-ray radiation therapy (top) for many cancer patients. Protons are relatively heavy, positively charged particles that…
Read more05/29/2019
Protons 101: Proton Therapy and SpaceOAR at The Oklahoma Proton Center
Less radiation dose to normal structures is a key component of cancer treatment. Today, we’ll review very briefly 1) what SpaceOAR is, 2) why at the Oklahoma Proton Center we use it for most patients, and 3) why we think it is a great match for proton therapy and prostate…
Read more05/24/2019
Protons 101: Breast Cancer, Radiation, and Heart Health
DISCLAIMER / About the Blog – Please read once if you haven’t. Protecting the heart during the treatment of breast cancer is a critical component of developing an overall cancer treatment plan for a breast cancer patient. Before we start the more technical side of the…
Read more05/13/2019
Protons 101: Prostate Cancer: Summary of Current Data
LAST UPDATED: August 2019 to reflect the new August 3rd Lancet randomized prostate cancer trial. Summary of Current Prostate Cancer Outcome Data for Patients Treated with Radiation: Below is a table summarizing recent trials that have been published on prostate cancer. This table simply attempts to summarize current data comparing…
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