ProtonPals

Here is a newly released media kit by ZERO The Project to End Prostate Cancer with pages
of supporting references that will prepare you for your discussion with your family doctor, friends
or organizations. It starts out by stating. “Everyone has the right to know they have cancer” .

PSA Test Has Saved Life of Thousands of Men

Here are the sections

• PSA Test Provides the Early Prostate Cancer Detection
  That Has Saved the Life of Thousands of Men
• Decline in Prostate Cancer Deaths Due to the PSA Test
• Early Detection Is Key:
  PSA Test Identifies Prostate Cancer Early, Before It Spreads
• Screenings Save Lives – Maybe, Yours
• Prostate and Breast Cancer Screenings Save Thousands of Lives
  The PSA test is as important to men as a mammogram is to women.
  Everyone has a right to know if they have cancer.
• The PSA test is not to blame. It’s what the physician and patient
  decide to do following the test and the economics and threat of legal
  scrutiny that help drive those decisions.
• What medical authorities say about the PSA Test
• There’s More to Your PSA Score, So Know the Difference

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 Joe Filler, Larry Hock and Hugh Exnicios, the three amigos, complete their treatment on the same day and celebrate with a “tres leches” cake a great TexMex tradition in Houston.
joe l.

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Support group meeting will meet on Thursday, March 25th, 2010 From 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM in new larger location.  Rooms  PTC1.1124 and PTC1.1128.  The topic -

“What Does Integrative Medicine Look Like: Clinical Delivery at M.D. Anderson”

presented by Laura Fletcher, Director, Place… of wellness    Support Group Meeting Flyer

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January’s newsletter covered the New York Times January 24th article about radiation therapy mishaps using the X-RAY technology. (Note all the cases mentioned in the article were treated with X-RAY radiation and NOT proton therapy)  The ProtonPals newsletter points out that these harmful accidents while tragic and our heart goes out to the patients, happen very infrequently and everything is done to assure the quality of the service.  Responses to the article by several key professionals are highlighted and links are given to complete articles. 

The chair of radiation oncology at M.D. Anderson, Dr. Thomas Buchholz responded by pointing out that industry statistics show these harmful accidents happen only 0.00001% of the time. A paragraph from what Dr. Buchholz published.

“Understandably, patients don’t see the expert teams of highly specialized, Ph.D.-level medical physicists, certified dosimetrists and experienced computer specialists who work closely with the patient care teams making sure that equipment is properly commissioned and calibrated at every use, that radiation treatment plans are safe and properly directed,  and that therapists are proficient in the delivery of each patient’s customized radiation plan.”

Regarding the M.D. Anderson PROTON CENTER, I’ve included an unofficial comment for the ProtonPals:   “At the proton center, the amount of actual machine- and patient-specific quality assurance performed by our Physics team eclipses that of other x-ray practices by a significant degree”. 

I know for a fact that the entire team of physicists, dosimetrists, engineers, therapists and nurses reside (or “office”)  in the Proton Center and are there in support of optimal treatment results. 

To read more please pull up the January Newsletter in the ProtonPals archives. 

View our ARCHIVE

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My wife Marcia who’s a water color artist and I just completed a DIY (do it yourself) logo design.  We’re trying to symbolize the outreach and support that the ProtonPals provides without being too maudlin.  The colors are the ones MDACC uses. 

Hope you like it.

Joe Landry

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A brief note about some interesting meetings being held in Houston this week.

1) Texas Chapter of Prostate Cancer Survivors – Monday 20th 7 P.M. A novel genetic alteration in human prostate cancer: biological and clinical implications

2) Dr. Lee will be featured on KPRC Channel 2 on Sat. April 25th, 6:30 to 7:00 P.M.  Innovations in Cancer Treatment and will speak about pencil beam therapy.  

3) Support Group Meeting on Thus at 1 P.M will feature Elizabeth Brackeen -  Finding Free and Reliable Health Information, The Learning Center

Joe Landry, Ban Capron, and Peter Taaffe 4/20/2009

1) Texas US Too Monthly Meeting

Last month Peter Taaffe and I met with Joe Piper, a very interesting gentleman and someone who’s been an officer in the US TOO national organization. Joe was one of the founders of the Texas Chapter of  the Prostate Cancer Survivor Support Group, saw our web-site, joined ProtonPals and extended an invitation for me to join them for the monthly meetings held at St. Luke’s Methodist Church on Westheimer.  I’m planning to attend this month’s meeting on Monday and hope to hear some exciting news about Dr. Michael Ittmann’s work at Baylor College of Medicine, his topic A novel genetic alteration in human prostate cancer: biological and clinical implications

http://www.texustoo.org/who.html

Date : Monday, April 20th, 2009

Time : 7:00 P.M

Place : St. Luke’s Methodist Church, 3471 Westheimer. Please Note the New Meeting Room Location: Youth Chapel, 2 nd Floor .

Topic : A novel genetic alteration in human prostate cancer: biological and clinical implications

Speaker : Speaker : Dr. Michael M.Ittmann   http://www.bcm.edu/pathology/labs/Ittmann/people.htm

Interest Group Meetings : New Member Orientation & Recurring Cancer; Radical Prostatectomy, Radiation and Quality of Life and Women’s Group will be assigned to Rooms B227 & B229. You can enter the building from the right side of the Courtyard and take the elevator that is in the Commons to the second floor, turn left and head down the hall straight to the Youth Chapel.

Getting There : Park behind the church. Enter the building from the right side of the Courtyard and take the elevator that is in the Commons to the second floor, turn left and head down the hall straight to the Youth Chapel.

2)  Innovations in Cancer Treatment.

KPRC Channel 2 will air “Innovations in Cancer Treatment, Part I,” which features M. D. Anderson, on Saturday, April 25, from 6:30 to 7:00 p.m., and again on Sunday, April 26, from 10:30 to 11:00 a.m. 

The show focuses on treatment of solid tumors. Faculty interviewed include Andrew Lee, M.D., associate professor, Radiation Oncology; Diane Bodurka, M.D., professor, Gynecologic Oncology and Mark Gilbert, M.D., professor, Neuro-Oncology.

• Lee discusses using pencil beam proton therapy for prostate cancer. We meet a successfully treated patient of his, James, and his wife Jean.
• Bodurka focuses on uterine (endometrial) cancer and talks about advances in treatments and new therapies. We also meet her patient, Barbara, who was treated with surgery for her uterine cancer.
• Gilbert focuses on advances in treatment for brain cancers and calls out some exciting new therapies developed at M. D. Anderson.

Several messages are wrapped around these stories, including the benefits of multidisciplinary care, the importance of customized care, the benefit of sub-specialization, the importance of proper imaging and pathology to the correct treatment, translational medicine and the relevance of clinical trials.

The show is the second in a series of six programs.  The first, which aired in the end of February, can be viewed on the Click2Houston site.

Mark your calendars for “Innovations in Cancer Treatment, Part II” which will focus on blood cancers.  This show will air Saturday, June 27, from 6:30 to 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, June 28, from 10:30 to 11:00 a.m.

3) Proton Therapy Prostate Patient Group

Regular monthly meeting has been shifted to the 4th Thursday of the month and this month will feature a session on Finding Free and Reliable Health Information by Elizabeth Brackeen, MS Senior Librarian, The Learning Center at MDACC. Our regular round table session will follow the main talk. 

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