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Web Review: Breast cancer patient treated with protons at ProCure

Nadine Bye is 70 and has worked hard to get this far. She has survived two brain surgeries and a battle against breast cancer when she was 60. On Tuesday, she had her last proton therapy treatment after being diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time.  Nadine thought she was done with breast cancer. It had been 10 years and she thought she was in the clear. But in October, she felt a lump near her collarbone. A doctor's appointment and several tests later, she found out that she had cancer again in her lymph nodes on her right side. It was too complicated to operate on, and... Full article

Web review – Proton therapy for ocular tumors at UCSF

Ocular Melanoma program at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), uses protons to treat ocular or uveal melanomas, which occur in the iris, ciliary body or choroid regions of the eye. The UCSF Ocular Melanoma Proton Radiation Program is one of a very select group of programs across the nation and world, which has long-term experience in treating uveal melanomas. They have been using particle radiation therapy since 1978 and have treated more than one thousand patients with uveal melanoma. Proton or charged particle radiation, which is one type of radiation therapy, is very... Full article

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Web review – Next generation proton therapy in Texas

Intensity modulated proton therapy treatment (IMPT) is now available at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. This new technology further refines radiation therapy options for complicated head and neck tumors. Selected for its ability to target tumors precisely while minimizing damage to healthy surrounding tissue, proton therapy has rapidly gained a foothold as an option for radiation treatment in the past decade. The Proton Therapy Center at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, opened in 2006, is now one of 10 proton therapy centers currently... Full article

Love for music bonds teen with proton radiation technicians

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Music produced an instant connection between 13-year-old Hannah Maupin and her proton radiation technicians. They had cued up her iPod as Hannah climbed atop the treatment table for the very first time. And the voice of Rich Mullins, a contemporary Christian musician who had recorded albums in the 1980s and ’90s, leapt from the treatment room’s speakers. Some of the proton radiation techs looked at one another in... Full article

Young boy with cancer needs help to get treatment

A young boy from the UK needs potentially life saving treatment in America. His parents are trying to raise £100,000 to send him to the US, as he may not qualify for NHS funding. An inoperable tumor was found in Sam John’s brain. The 16-year-old boy from Hampshire needs to get proton therapy and travel to America, as this kind of treatment is not yet available in the UK. Unfortunately, Sam may not qualify for NHS funding. A medical review panel are currently reviewing his case to decide whether to fund the treatment abroad. The National Specialised Commissioning Team, the NHS... Full article

Little girl with cancer amazes her doctors

Four-year-old Katie Dodd from the UK is fighting cancer in the US, where she is getting life saving proton therapy treatment. Last August, Katie started to have severe back pain. In September, she woke up and realized she could not move her legs anymore. She was taken to the hospital, where an MRI scan revealed she had a 6-centimeter tumor on her spine. Doctors established she needed pioneering proton beam therapy in America (this kind of treatment is not yet available in the UK). The little girl fortunately qualified for NHS funding, which took care of the £114.000 cost of her... Full article