The Benefits of Proton Therapy

MedStar Georgetown University Hospital is proud to be the first and most experienced facility in the Washington, D.C. region to offer proton therapy with HYPERSCAN™. Our team of physicians at MedStar Georgetown is made up of the D.C. area’s leading experts, who have specialized knowledge in numerous cancer types and are at the forefront of the latest advances in treatment. We are committed to seeing patients within 48 hours, providing you and your loved ones care as quickly as possible. Dr. Matthew Witek, director of Proton Therapy at MedStar Georgetown, and a leading expert in radiation oncology, specializes in treating patients with cancers of the central nervous systems, base of skull, head and neck, and skin. He has a special interest in advanced radiation technologies and treatment approaches that minimize treatment side effects and improve patient outcomes. For an interview with Dr. Matthew Witek, or for more information about this podcast, contact MedStar Georgetown University Hospital Manager Media Relations, Ryan.M.Miller2@Medstar.net. Learn more about Dr. Witek.

 To learn more or to make an appointment call (202) 444-4255, or visit: MedStarHealth/ProtonTherapy.

MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Doctor Matthew Witek, DocTalk, Proton Therapy, Cancer  ---

For more episodes of MedStar Health DocTalk, go to medstarhealth.org/doctalk.

Transcript

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Comprehensive, relevant and insightful conversations about health and medicine happen here on MedStar Health Doc talk. Real conversations with physician experts from around the largest healthcare system in the Maryland DC region. MedStar, Georgetown University Hospital is proud to be the first and most experienced facility in the Washington DC region to offer proton therapy with hyper scan. Our team of physicians at MedStar Georgetown is made up of the DC area's, leading experts who have specialized knowledge in numerous cancer types and are at the forefront of the latest advances in treatment. We are committed to seeing patients within 48 hours providing you and your loved ones care as quickly as possible. Proton therapy is one of the most advanced cancer treatments available, and precisely targets tumors, which results in fewer side effects than traditional radiation, so you can get back to your life sooner. In addition, through our research engine, Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, the only NCI designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Washington DC area, we offer patients access to clinical trials and breakthrough cancer treatments. Welcome to MedStar Health Doc Talk. I'm Ryan Miller and I'll be your host for today's episode. I'm joined by Dr. Matthew Wittick, director of proton therapy at MedStar Georgetown, and a leading expert in radiation oncology specializing in treating patients with cancers of the central nervous systems base of the skull, head and neck and skin. He has a special interest in advanced radiation technologies and treatment approaches that minimize treatment side effects and improve patient outcomes. Thanks for joining us on MedStar Health Doc talk. Thanks, Ryan. Thank you for that introduction. I'm glad to be here and I appreciate the invitation to talk. For those who are completely unaware, can you give us a general overview of what is proton therapy? I think you nailed it in the introduction, but I'll review one more time. So proton therapy is an advanced form of radiation therapy. It uses protons instead of x-rays to deliver precise radiation to the tumor and limit the amount of radiation to the normal tissue, leaving you with less side effects, and as you mentioned before, able to get back to your daily life faster. Dr. Whittick, what are the other types of radiation treatment options that are out there, and why do you think proton therapy is different from those? As a radiation oncologist, we have different tools in our tool belt to cure your cancer, we use electrons, photons, which are just x-rays and protons. Protons are slightly different than x-rays and electrons in that it's a large particle that delivers dose differently in the body. We're able to use something called the brag peak, which means that the protons stop at a certain distance in the body, and by using this do symmetric advantage, we're able to stop the proton in your tumor and not allow it to go through your normal tissue. This is slightly different than x-rays which go in and out of the body, hitting all the tissues in its way. Can you walk us through some of the benefits of proton therapy? One of the major benefits of proton therapy is the decrease in toxicities, both in the acute or the upfront immediate setting and the long-term setting. Patients who receive radiation therapy go through weeks of treatment and they want to get back to their normal life after proton therapy. By reducing the amount of radiation your normal tissue sees, you should be able to be back on your feet faster and back to your regular life. In the long term, reducing the amount of radiation to the normal tissues also decreases your chance of having long-term side effects Compared to traditional radiation therapy. How is it able to hone in on such a specific area? Like all radiation, we use highly sophisticated imaging and computer software systems that allow us to precisely deliver radiation where we want it to go. Unlike x-rays, however, protons allow us to stop the dose in a different manner, and by doing this, we can spare a lot of the normal tissues surrounding your tumor. What types of cancer can be treated with proton therapy? Nearly all tumors are treatable with proton therapy. There are some cancers, for example, like leukemias, which require total body irradiation that may be better served with x-rays. However, proton therapy has been shown to be useful in nearly all cancers and adults and children. Example, from CNS tumors to lung cancers to prostate tumors. Is there a certain type of cancer that you'd say we treat the most? Here at MedStar Georgetown with proton therapy? In the initial days of proton therapy, prostate was the most commonly treated cancer. However, as our technology has improved over time, we've been able to use proton therapy for a number of disease sites. Here at MedStar Georgetown, we pride ourself in using proton therapy to treat almost all cancers equally. What makes a good candidate for proton therapy and would you say it's safe for children? It's absolutely safe for children, and in most centers around the United States, proton therapy is favored for pediatric patients. Every patient could be a candidate for proton therapy. Here at MedStar Georgetown, we have the ability to use photons or x-rays, traditional radiation or proton therapy. Each one of our skilled physicians will use their personal experience as well as data from the literature to decide whether or not proton therapy would be right for you. Dr. Whittick, if I need to come in to see a clinician, how soon can I get an appointment? And would you mind walking our listeners through what the evaluation process looks like? Sure. We would rather you fight your cancer than fight scheduling, and we appreciate the desire for all patients and their timely appointment with a physician who can evaluate you and to determine whether or not protons are right for you. Here at the Proton Center at MedStar, Georgetown, we see our cancer patients within 48 hours. We work with a multidisciplinary team to create a tailored treatment plan to each of our patient's needs based on where they are in their journey. Our team is committed to providing the best possible care for our patients to ensure the best possible outcome. Starting with that initial appointment. Treatment doesn't start in the initial visit, right? Yeah. So yeah. Maybe just walk us through what that looks like. After that visit. If you're deemed an appropriate candidate for proton therapy, you go through something called a CT stimulation. That's the first appointment where a CAT scan is performed at our center that we use for the radiation planning purposes. Approximately two to three weeks after that, you'll come back for your first treatment. Treatments last anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes, and generally they're given Monday through Friday. Do those needing treatment, will they need a ride to and from the hospital? The majority of patients receiving proton therapy are outpatients, which means that they're not in the hospital. They come from home into our center. The majority of treatments last anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes, and then you're on your way. Oh, that's great that they come in, get their treatment and go on with their day. Your bio states that you treat head and neck cancers and skin cancers. Can you tell us more about that? My clinical practice focuses on tumors above the collarbone. If you want to start at the top, I treat a lot of brain tumors. That's the CNS portion of my clinical practice, and then a lot of head and neck cancers, which includes throat cancer, tonsil cancer, and even skin cancer. Your bio also states that you have a robust research program and head and neck cancer, and you also participate in numerous national and international head and neck committees. How does all this research you're involved in, how do you think it will help your patients? As an academic physician, one of the goals that I think we all have is to improve the care that we deliver to our patients, and that's really only done through robust basic science and clinical research programs. I've been fortunate to work here at MedStar Georgetown, as well as other high level academic institutions where we have performed clinical trials that have changed some of the ways that our patients are treated, and I'm proud to say I think they are reducing a lot of the side effects without minimizing the chance of cure for these patients. We have a number of ongoing clinical trials that, again, hope to continue improving on the outcome of our patients, and we look for patients that are interested in those talk to some of our physicians to see if they can be a part of the research program here at MedStar Georgetown. Wonderful. So with all that research going on, it sounds like you're optimistic about the future of radiation technologies and treatment. Would you say that's the case? That is the case. I think protons are the tip of the iceberg. We are doing things called flash radiation where we're delivering the radiation in milliseconds, which has the benefit of reducing side effects even further. Here at MedStar Georgetown, we're doing grid and lattice therapy, which also are ways of delivering high doses of radiation with minimal side effects, and even with our medical oncology colleagues. I think radiation plays a great role in improving the role of systemic therapy by combining radiation with radiation therapy in clever ways to improve their outcomes. Dr. Whittick, why should someone choose MedStar Georgetown for proton therapy? At MedStar Georgetown? We're proud to be the first and most experienced proton therapy center in the Washington DC region. I think beyond our technology, our physicians are extremely experienced with the technology as well as with your cancer. Our team is dedicated to getting you through your journey as quickly, safely as possible, and back on your feet before you know it. If proton therapy is not right for you. We also have many different types of radiation therapy that we can offer you, and we're here to guide you in your decision-making processes and being a part of your fight against cancer. It sounds like safe to say, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital is a one-stop shop for cancer care. That we are. Well, I've been talking with Dr. Matthew Whittick at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC Thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us today on MedStar Health Doc Doc. Alright. Thanks for having me. To learn more or to make an appointment, call 2 0 2 4 4 4 4 2 5 5 or visit MedStar health.org/proton therapy.