Proton therapy

terril
terril Member Posts: 296
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi everyone!!!!
I was wondering if anybody on this web site has been treated by proton therapy. There are a few places in the U.S. (a new, large facility at MD Anderson) that have this type of radiation. They claim they have treated gastrointestional tumors. I am looking for a place that could remove "an inoperable" tumor in my pelvic area as a result of metastastic colon cancer. Any information would help me!! Bless you all!!! Terri

Comments

  • shmurciakova
    shmurciakova Member Posts: 906 Member
    I read about this the other day. I guess you could just try to call the GI clinic down there at MD and try to find out if it is applicable in your case, or you could call the department that houses the proton machine....radiology? Please keep us updated on what you find out. Also, perhaps the surgeons at MD would not feel your tumor is "inoperable". A second opinion certainly could not hurt anything.
    The GI clinic # is (713) 794-4957.
    Maybe you can do a self referral.
    Take care,
    Susan.
  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
    Loma Linda University Medical Center in Southern California has one...usually used for brain and prostate cancers...sorry, don't have the phone number...
    Hugs, Kathi
  • Betsydoglover
    Betsydoglover Member Posts: 1,248 Member
    Terri -

    I don't much about this, but Mass General Cancer Center in Boston also does this. Not sure where you live, but at least there are choices of Massachusetts, Texas and California - and probably a few more. You can probably self-refer to all of these places, but I also think you should ask your oncologist for help in this area - a good one should be willing to go to bat for you.

    And, while you don't want some crazy person doing surgery, you may want multiple opinions before accepting the "inoperable" status. There is probably a fine line between "agressive" surgeons and "crazy" surgeons. If you got a couple additional opinions, it might turn out that your tumor is operable - by an agressive, but not crazy surgeon.

    I wish you all the best. Take care,
    Betsy