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Further to my initial posting on this-- Dr. Rossi, a prominent doctor at Loma Linda University who has been involved with proton beam therapy since 1991 wrote a letter to the editor following the newspaper article- to try to get a more appropriate message across. Some excerpts from this letter are:

"While one can quibble with the current costs of building a proton center, what cannot be disputed is the fact that the superior physics of a proton beam as compared to an x-ray (protons stop, x-rays do not) mean a marked decrease in the radiation dose to the patient. Radiation is a dangerous modality-it indiscriminately kills good and bad tissue alike, and in many cases the damage which is caused to normal tissue takes years to become apparent....

Alright, what does this mean in practical, clinical terms? When I treat a prostate cancer patient with protons the total normal tissue dose will be ~ 250% less than if I were treating with sophisticated x-ray therapy. Similar gains exist in other tumor sites including lung and brain tumors. This is not a “trivial� difference it is profound and, based upon everything we have learned in over a century’s experience with radiation treatment, will only be beneficial to the individual. Consider this from the patient’s perspective-if you had a brain tumor would you prefer to have all of your brain receive some radiation dose, or only a small volume? If your prostate needs treatment, what possible advantage is there for the beam to first pass thru the small intestine, than the bladder, and finally exit out the rectum? Within the limits imposed by x-rays we have had to face these treatment compromises daily, while with protons they can often be avoided entirely.

Like any emerging technology proton beam treatment equipment is physically bulky and expensive to build. The current Medicare reimbursement rates reflect the expense associated with constructing these centers and developing this technology. This is not unique to proton therapy and has been applied to other emerging medical technologies, including sophisticated forms of x-ray therapy. As the cost of the technology inevitably decreases, so will the cost of treatment.

I am convinced that proton beam treatment is the future of radiation therapy and that over the next few decades it will become the treatment of choice in radiation oncology."