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How Effective Is Proton Therapy In Treatment Of Brain Tumor?
Question: Hi, im a 42 year old male and was diagnosed with a CPA brain tumor (9mm by 14mm). The doctors believe i to be a meninginoma. I've seen doctors at Cedars Sinai and UCLA and both had differing opinions on my options. SRS was one the other was "wait and observe". I am uncomfortable with either, waiting for it to grow and get worse is scary and SRS could have unintended consequences that seem to be counter productive to the problem. I read about proton treatment and was wondering if that is a solution that is worth the risk, given the surrounding tissue is less affected than SRS. Are the long terms side affects well understood? Thanks in advance
Brief Answer:
Proton therapy is recommended for your tumor
Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXX,
Thanks for writing in to us.
I have read through your query in detail.
Please find my observations below.
1. A CPA brain tumor measuring 9 mm x 14 mm is a small one and this is the right time to treat it as one of the hospitals have suyggested.
2. Allowing the tumor to grow is also a valid option but then you will not like to have a tumor that is worse than the one you already have and which might limit the treatment options later.
3. In continuing with the suggested treatment option with stereotactic radio surgery, there are few details I would like to share with you and I hope that this will help you to decide on which treatment to go for.
4. The stereotactic radio surgery (SRS) is a broad term applied to the treatment of small tumors with the help of external radiation devices which are controlled with precision and the radiation is deliverd accurately.
5. There are 3 methods os SRS that I know about and would like to discuss. The initial set up is almost the same but the machines used to deliver the radiation are different.
(i) SRS using Gamma knife uses a concentration of gamma knife beams on the tumor which is focused accurately on the location.
(ii) SRS using LINAC (Linear accelerator) uses high energy X rays and the target is treated.
(iii) SRS using Proton beam or heavy charged particle radiosurgery is done using protons and in this technique the radiation is confined to the tumor. This is good for tumors having irregular shape and is more accurate. This will be a good choice for you as size of the tumor is 9 x 14 mm.
5. The available literature on proton does not describe the long term side effects in detail because of limited patients treated. However this treatment scores over other methods due to restriction of the treatment to affected area. The normal area does not get any protons and therefore side effects should be less.
Hope this answers your question. Please feel free to correct any oversight in my interpretation of your problems and discuss them in detail as per your requirements.
Hope your query is answered.
Do write back if you have any doubts.
Regards,
Dr.Vivek
Proton therapy is recommended for your tumor
Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXX,
Thanks for writing in to us.
I have read through your query in detail.
Please find my observations below.
1. A CPA brain tumor measuring 9 mm x 14 mm is a small one and this is the right time to treat it as one of the hospitals have suyggested.
2. Allowing the tumor to grow is also a valid option but then you will not like to have a tumor that is worse than the one you already have and which might limit the treatment options later.
3. In continuing with the suggested treatment option with stereotactic radio surgery, there are few details I would like to share with you and I hope that this will help you to decide on which treatment to go for.
4. The stereotactic radio surgery (SRS) is a broad term applied to the treatment of small tumors with the help of external radiation devices which are controlled with precision and the radiation is deliverd accurately.
5. There are 3 methods os SRS that I know about and would like to discuss. The initial set up is almost the same but the machines used to deliver the radiation are different.
(i) SRS using Gamma knife uses a concentration of gamma knife beams on the tumor which is focused accurately on the location.
(ii) SRS using LINAC (Linear accelerator) uses high energy X rays and the target is treated.
(iii) SRS using Proton beam or heavy charged particle radiosurgery is done using protons and in this technique the radiation is confined to the tumor. This is good for tumors having irregular shape and is more accurate. This will be a good choice for you as size of the tumor is 9 x 14 mm.
5. The available literature on proton does not describe the long term side effects in detail because of limited patients treated. However this treatment scores over other methods due to restriction of the treatment to affected area. The normal area does not get any protons and therefore side effects should be less.
Hope this answers your question. Please feel free to correct any oversight in my interpretation of your problems and discuss them in detail as per your requirements.
Hope your query is answered.
Do write back if you have any doubts.
Regards,
Dr.Vivek
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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