Proton therapy yields long-term patient survival and excellent quality of life for prostate cancer patients, according to a study from the University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute.
A team led by Medical Director Dr. Nancy Mendenhall reported that 99% of men with early- and intermediate-risk prostate cancer were cancer-free five years after having proton therapy. Results were published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics (March 2014, Vol. 88:3, pp. 596-602).
In addition, more than three-quarters of those with high-risk prostate cancer were free of disease at five years, according to the researchers.
The researchers tracked 211 patients, who were given proton therapy over an eight-week period.
| Outcomes following proton therapy | |||
| Low-risk patients | Intermediate-risk patients | High-risk patients | |
| Cancer-free survival rate at 5 years | 99% | 99% | 76% |
| Overall survival rate at 5 years | 93% | 88% | 90% |
Only 1.4% of patients had serious gastrointestinal complications, while 5.3% had serious urologic complications. Patients also reported good outcomes with respect to both urologic and bowel function, according to the group.
![A 53-year-old patient (patient number four) with a recurrent pituitary adenoma with extension of a cystic component of disease to the medial temporal lobe apparent on MRI (contoured in blue), and extension of disease to the left sphenoid bone and orbital apex apparent on [68Ga]Ga-DOTA-TATE (contoured in yellow).](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/04/pituitary-tumor.QGsEnyB4bU.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=crop&h=100&q=70&w=100)
![A 53-year-old patient (patient number four) with a recurrent pituitary adenoma with extension of a cystic component of disease to the medial temporal lobe apparent on MRI (contoured in blue), and extension of disease to the left sphenoid bone and orbital apex apparent on [68Ga]Ga-DOTA-TATE (contoured in yellow).](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/04/pituitary-tumor.QGsEnyB4bU.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
