"Bill of Health"-Proton Therapy
Thursday, September 25, 2008
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SUSIE GHARIB: And finally tonight, the fight against cancer has a new weapon in its arsenal, proton therapy. It's a type of radiation treatment used to fight cancerous tumors and hospitals around the country are weighing its costs and benefits. In tonight's "Bill of Health," Jeff Yastine looks at what it could mean for both patients and hospitals.
JEFF YASTINE, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: It is a battle Nat Greene fought and won, his battle against prostate cancer. He was all set to undergo surgery when he heard about something called proton therapy. And after researching it, decided to go that route.
NAT GREENE, PROTON THERAPY PATIENT: It is very painless. It has no actual side effect, it had very little side effect for me. And the process lasts only about maybe an hour a day, the treatment. And you go every day for about two months, eight weeks.
YASTINE: Systems like this one in Jacksonville, Florida, use a beam of protons to fight cancer in the body. X-rays or photons have been used for decades in a similar matter, but unlike X-rays, proton particles can be focused precisely on the cancerous area without damaging surrounding healthy tissues. Dr. Alan Pollack, chairman of radiation oncology at the University of Miami's medical school, says research continues into its best uses of proton therapy.
DR. ALAN POLLACK, CHAIRMAN, RADIATION ONCOLOGY, UNIV. OF MIAMI MILLER SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: It holds great promise. But we still have a long way to go before understanding what sites would benefit the most. For example, should -- is treatment for prostate cancer better using proton therapy than photon therapy? This is an unanswered question today.
YASTINE: Pollack's hospital is planning to build its own proton therapy center to answer that question. But many hospitals eager for the latest cancer-fighting tool aren't waiting for the data. There are five working proton centers around the U.S. with four more under construction. But many other hospitals are seeking licenses or funding to build their own proton therapy centers which can cost more than $100 million each. Rick Gundling of the Healthcare Financial Management Association says it's a question of medicine and marketing.
RICK GUNDLING, HEALTHCARE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION: But I think a lot of times the technologies are used to help, you know, attract physicians and attract patients to hospitals, and used as a competitive advantage as well. A lot of these new technologies have traditionally been within academic health centers or teaching hospitals. And now the hospitals that can afford it are bringing those within their walls.
YASTINE: Which means that in coming years, the technology will be available to more people fighting cancer like Nat Greene. Jeff Yastine, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, "Bill of Health."
