Pediatric Proton Responds to New York Times Opinionator Article

There was an article published in the New York Times yesterday.  You can read it here:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/it-costs-more-but-is-it-worth-more/

The Pediatric Proton Foundation responded as follows:

As the mother of a child that survived paralyzing spinal cancer at the age of 2 in part due to proton therapy, I feel compelled to respond to this article. As you indicate in your article, there is mounting evidence that protons will become the standard of care for cancer treatment for pediatric patients, especially when it comes to brain and spinal tumors. The problem for most parents is accessing proton therapy for their cancer-stricken child. With only 9 centers in the U.S., it often involves a temporary move for the family during the proton treatment which is often cost prohibitive (we traveled over 1,500 miles.)  Sadly, only 465 children received proton therapy in the U.S. in 2010, and as you indicate over 3,500 could have benefited. To solve this problem, we need to have more access for our children through more proton centers. I congratulate Mayo for making this important investment on behalf of all pediatric cancer patients, and I thank you on behalf of my son, now age 6, NED and healthy.

Pediatric Proton Foundation Supports ASTRO's Annual Meeting

The Pediatric Proton Foundation (PPF) was in full force at the Annual Meeting of ASTRO in Miami Beach, from Oct. 1-5, 2011.  Volunteers, Susan Ralston, Executive Director, and Ann-Marie Lewis visited from the headquarters area in Virginia Beach and participated in numerous key meetings with old friends and many new friends.  Susan Ralston states, "the proton community is a small world, indeed, and there are so many great people involved in the science and application, it is inspiring to see collaberation and fellowship in action."  The Pediatric Proton Foundation recently partnered with the National Association for Proton Therapy to release survey results from pediatric patients treated with protons in 2010.  The study is available here.

The Annual Meeting of the PPF was held at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Oct. 3, 2011 in attendance included founders, Dr. Sameer Keole, ProCure - Oklahoma City and Dr. Cynthia Keppel, Hampton University Proton Therapy Center.  Other top notch professional volunteers include proton therapy consultant Dr. Andrew Chang and Dr. Daniel Indelicato of the University of Florida Proton Therapy Center.  Dr. Vivian Porche, from MD Anderson, was unable to attend this year.  New applicants for the board were considered (stay tuned) and other important topics were discussed to include the 2011 Pediatric Proton Therapy Survey. 

Many thanks to the supporters of our foundation.  We are reminded daily about those special children and their parents who are fighting cancer today and every day.  Our mission is clear - we want to see every child that qualifies for proton therapy to get it because it reduces the radiation long term effects to healthy surrounding organs and tissues.  We support more proton centers to be able to serve the need.  We support proton therapy as the standard of care for appropriate cases of pediatric radiation cancer treatment.

Pediatric Proton Foundation to Hold Annual Meeting at ASTRO

The Annual Meeting of the Pediatric Proton Foundation will be held at ASTRO in South Miami Beach the first week of October.  Wow!  As we look back on the year, we have so many accomplishments to be proud of given our limited size.  For the first time we published a survey in conjunction with the National Association for Proton Therapy entitled, "Pediatric Proton Therapy in the United States: Patterns of Care 2010."  We were impressed with the findings which revealed 45 diseases were treated in 2010.  Children under 8 being the majority of those pediatrics treated.  We will be reporting these and other findings during our meetings and fellowship during ASTRO.  Stay tuned!

 Thank you for your continued interest in pediatric proton. 

National Association for Proton Therapy and Pediatric Proton Foundation Release First Snapshot of Treatment Data on Children at U.S. Proton Centers

National Association for Proton Therapy and Pediatric Proton Foundation Release First Snapshot of Treatment Data on Children at U.S. Proton Centers

Pediatric Proton Featured in Electronic Sarcoma Newsletter in August!

The Pediatric Proton Foundation is featured in this month's Electronic Sarcoma Update Newsletter (ESUN).  Since my son is a Ewing's Sarcoma survivor, the work of the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Foundation has been of extreme interest to me since Day 1 of diagnosis.  Click here to read the article:  http://sarcomahelp.org/newsletter/community.html

ESUN is an online, open access, peer-reviewed, bi-monthly newsletter. In addition to feature articles that focus on specific sarcomas and current research and clinical issues dealing with these cancers, it has regular columns that abstract newly announced clinical trials and recent research findings). It also contains a column telling stories of courage and hope, a column that deals with a potpourri of topics of general interest, and updates on sarcoma advocacy and related groups. Our readership consists of physicians (oncologists and non-oncologists), nurses, patients, caregivers and survivors. ESUN contents are accessed over 30,000 times each month, giving wide visibility to the published articles. Additionally, a number of articles in ESUN have been translated by sarcoma physicians and researchers and appear in Chinese, French, Italian, Polish and Spanish to benefit the sarcoma communities within the respective countries.


Thank you Bruce Shriver for your dedicated and excellent work in the Sarcoma community.  Thank you for this opportunity to discuss the Pediatric Proton Foundation!

Breaking News...State of Pediatric Proton Therapy 2010 Soon to be Released!

BREAKING NEWS - August 8th


The survey of the State of Pediatric Proton Therapy 2010 is about to be completed. We had 100% participation!

The survey is currently undergoing peer review and will be presented by Dr. Daniel Indelicato of the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute (volunteer for the Pediatric Proton Foundation) during the Fall Meeting of the Children's Oncology Group (COG) in Atlanta September 13 - 16, 2011.

The National Association for Proton Therapy (NAPT) and the Pediatric Proton Foundation will issue a joint press release immediately after Dr. Indelicato presents the survey results at COG. Highlights from the survey will include the total number of pediatric cases, the various types of diseases treated, and the age groups treated.

Thank you for your continued support for this initial and important proton community effort.  We look forward to your feedback.

Meet Executive Director, Susan Ralston, Pediatric Proton Foundation