Taipale letter: Prostate cancer

Regarding the article Feb. 27, “Promising new treatments help fight advanced prostate cancer.” I received a diagnosis of metastatic prostate cancer in 2006. My urologist informed me that my tumor was inoperable. Fortunately, I learned of a book, “You can beat prostate cancer, and you don’t need surgery to do it,” by Bob Marckini. The book informed me that there was a prostate cancer treatment available for treating metastatic prostate cancer; that it was noninvasive and utilized a proton beam to kill the tumor. The proton beam can be precisely targeted to the tumor mass, avoiding collateral damage to healthy cells. The book convinced me that proton therapy was the best treatment available. I subsequently was accepted for treatment at Loma Linda University Medical Center, Loma Linda, Calif. My treatment began in May 2007 and lasted 10 weeks. Today, I am a healthy 83-year-old and suffer no side affects from the treatment. I am a BOB (Brotherhood of the Balloon) member. BOB is prostate cancer support group which has more than 6,000 (former proton therapy patients) members. Persons interested in learning more about proton therapy can buy Mr. Marckini’s book on Amazon or visit @protonbob.com.

This story was originally published March 10, 2017 at 7:48 PM with the headline "Taipale letter: Prostate cancer."