Protons Gives Lung Cancer Patients A Longer Lease On Life
Wednesday, March 01, 2000
Jill Higgins and her husband, John, faced each other, tears in their eyes. They did not know what else to do. A smoker for more than 40 years, Jill's CT scans revealed a tumor had grown in her left lung, directly over her heart. Because of the tumor's location and Jill's emphysema, doctors had deemed it inoperable. Jill was sent home to die.
Unwilling to give up, Jill began searching for alternative solutions. At 65 years of age, she wasn't ready to die. Glancing through a local newspaper one day at their home in Chino Valley, Arizona, John came across the story of a young man whose brain tumor had been successfully treated with protons at a place called Loma Linda University Medical Center. When he shared this with Jill, both wondered if proton therapy could be the answer. With curiosity and hope, Jill dialed the 800 number that was included in the article.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. It is estimated that in the year 2000, more than 300,000 Americans will die from lung cancer. Two types of lung cancer exist: small cell--usually seen as a mass located in the center of the chest; and non-small cell--a cancer that develops in the outer portion of the lung.
Treatment choices and chances of long-term survival with lung cancer depend on type, location, size, lymph node involvement, and whether the cancer has spread outside the lungs. Currently, surgery is the standard procedure for persons who are diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer. But a problem exists--20 percent of all those diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer--about 5,000 people a year--are not surgical candidates. Many, like Jill Higgins, have pre-existing conditions that make operations or standard radiation impossible.
For this select group, experts at the Loma Linda University Proton Treatment Center are using protons to irradiate cancer that is otherwise untreatable. Proton beams, which can be shaped to deliver radiation to irregular three-dimensional volumes, like lung tumors, make it a near perfect option. Because high doses of protons can be administered without damage to surrounding tissues, patients with pre-existing conditions are not endangered as with standard radiation.
Based on these premises physicians at Loma Linda began a study in 1994. Twenty-seven patients with stage I lung cancer underwent proton therapy. After two years, the disease-free survival rate for stage I patients was 86 percent.
"What this means," explains David A. Bush, MD, assistant professor of radiation medicine, "is that by using this type of treatment we can improve the outcome for people with lung cancer without lessening their quality of life."
When Jill found out she qualified to be a candidate for proton treatment, she was ecstatic. Finally, there seemed to be hope. Ten days of treatment with protons virtually reversed Jill's death sentence. Since the treatment process consisted of only one painless hour each day, Jill and her husband were able to visit friends and explore Southern California. Six months following treatment, no traces of the deadly tumor remained. After five years, Jill remains cancer free.
