Tag : Head and Neck Cancer

RSS

Study looks at value vs. cost in proton and X-ray therapy delivery

141110_Steven_Frank
A proof of concept study from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center shows that the episodic cost of care using intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT) in advanced-stage head and neck cancer is less than that of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), also known as X-ray or photon therapy. The study, “Defining the Value of Proton Therapy,” published in Oncology Payers, detailed findings concerning two patients with oropharyngeal cancer. The cost for one patient’s daily IMPT treatment was 2.8 times higher than for the other patient’s daily treatment with IMRT. However, the IMRT patient took more time to begin therapy, which led to higher costs associated with re-consultation and re-imaging. As a result, the method used to measure the costs, what’s called... Full article

WEB REVIEW – PT better than IMRT for head & neck cancer

brain_roi
Proton beam therapy (PT) has a significant advantage over intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) when it comes to improving disease-free survival and tumor control in patients with head and neck cancers according to a study by Mayo Clinic radiation oncologists. The study was published in Lancet Oncology and involved a systematic review of the literature on outcomes of proton beam therapy compared to IMRT. The... Full article

Fewer side effects lead patients with head and neck cancers to protons

SONY DSC
Proton radiation oncologists continue to be optimistic about the early results they are seeing in treating head and neck cancers. In the Czech Republic, a leading radiation oncologist reports that patients there who have been treated for head and neck cancers with protons are experiencing far fewer side effects than those typically experienced by photon radiation patients. “Protons have huge benefits,” says Dr.... Full article

Numbers, types of proton therapy clinical studies on the rise

william-f-hartsell
With 14 proton therapy centers currently operating in the United States and an additional 28 up and running worldwide, studies on the efficacy of using proton beam therapy for cancer treatment are being more widely conducted now than ever before. “Ten years ago, there were only three proton centers operating in the United States, so the number of patients who were being treated and actually could be included in... Full article

Preliminary reports show promise of protons for treating head and neck cancers

Capture d’écran 2014-04-28 à 10.38.12
Four months into treating patients with head and neck cancers using pencil beam scanning with protons, Alexander Lin, MD, is optimistic about the results he is seeing so far. Many cancers are in remission and patients aren’t experiencing the life-changing side effects so common among those treated with conventional radiation.   When it comes to sheer cancer-killing power, “protons and photons are equally... Full article

Proton beams are big guns against HPV-related oropharyngeal cancers

Doctor Alexander Lin
Radiation oncologists are using protons against a growing number of oropharyngeal cancers caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV). “We’re seeing a decrease in smoking-related head and neck cancers and an increase in HPV-related oropharyngeal cancers,” said Alexander Lin, MD, clinical operations director at Penn Medicine’s Roberts Proton Therapy Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Penn Medicine is the branded... Full article

The proton experience

The proton experience
The proton patient experience is featured in new awareness campaign promoting Penn Medicine’s Roberts Proton Therapy Center. Decked in biker gear — spandex, not leather, thank you — a fit, middle-aged man steps briskly down his front steps, hops on his road bike and begins his 20-mile ride to Philadelphia for another proton beam treatment. Two hours later, he’s on his bike pedaling toward home. But it... Full article