Within this window, local treatments must work effectively. If they do, controlling the disease is equivalent to curing the patient. Proton therapy represents the most precise form of advanced radiation treatment available for certain cancers and other diseases, yet it minimizes or alleviates harm to surrounding tissues. All patients are treated as outpatients and feel nothing during treatment. The minimized normal-tissue injury results in the potential for fewer side effects following treatment, such as nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.
Patients experience a better quality of life during and after proton treatment.
In the 10 years since the opening of Loma Linda's center, more than 5,400 people with cancer and other diseases have come to Loma Linda from nearly every state in the United States and from more than 25 other countries to benefit from the latest medical science and technology. Very few experience side effects. The center now treats 110 patients each day and hopes to treat 120 per day by the end of the year. In addition to treating pediatric cancers and tumors in the eye, head and neck area, spinal column, lungs, liver, and prostate, researchers at Loma Linda are developing the proton system to treat breast cancer, as well as Parkinson's disease and other neurological disorders. As Thanksgiving approaches, stop at one of the Thanksgiving trees around campus and write a note of thanks to pin to the tree.