Proton/Prostate Trivia: What’s Your P-IQ?

The obvious answer—the wrong one—is the Proton, made by the Malaysian manufacturer Proton Holdings Berhad. According to Wikipedia, that Proton is an acronym for Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional. Nope, that’s not our proton.

Ours—proton beam radiation therapy—was recently referred to in the media as the “Rolls Royce of Radiation Therapy.” As far as I know, our”proton” is not an acronym for anything, but I suppose we could make one up. How about “Precise Radiation of the Oncological Nodules.” If you have a better one—and you probably do—please share it with me!

You knew this was a trick question and I’ll bet you got it right. Yes, women do indeed have a prostate. It’s not of the same caliber as the one we men have, but it’s there as sort of a tiny token prostate. Nevertheless, it apparently can become infected, and it produces the prostate specific antigen (PSA) and could even become cancerous.

Maybe the government should intervene and issue some statements about PSA tests and DREs (digital rectal exams) for women. Or maybe not.

Did you peek at the answer before answering on your own? If so, that’s okay because “Peak” is part of the answer. To be precise, the Bragg Peak phenomenon is responsible for the unique advantages of proton radiation.

As compared with conventional photon/x-ray radiation, proton has lower radiation levels on the way to the target, maximum punch at the target, and undetectable levels beyond the target. Hence, less healthy tissue is needlessly subjected to radiation. Hence again, it is reasonable to expect a lower risk of nasty side effects and secondary cancers later. All because of proton’s Bragg Peak.

Hence once more, everyone promoting proton should brag a little more loudly about how proton’s unique Bragg Peak phenomenon works.

Not quite. The pioneering Loma Linda University facility was first in the U.S. to use only proton radiation to treat prostate cancer beginning in the early 1990s. However, in the late 1970s Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston used proton along with conventional radiation therapy to treat prostate cancer. Kudos to both.

Tennis, anyone? Nope. Hockey? Basketball? Baseball? Ping Pong? No, no, no, and no.

To elicit a sometimes negative, sometimes positive jaw-dropping gasp when describing proton therapy, the particle accelerator that produces the proton beam (cyclotrons, synchrotrons) is commonly compared to the size of a football field. Maybe it’s because of the handy measurement lines drawn every ten yards.

You probably guessed red kryptonite, plutonium or uranium, but you’d be wrong. It’s also not oxygen, nor water. It’s not even everyone’s favorite gas, the ever-popular helium that’s so much fun to inhale from a balloon.

OncoLink provides our answer: “Hydrogen atoms are separated from water, using a process called electrolysis. A positively charged proton is extracted from each hydrogen atom and injected into the cyclotron … Using electromagnetic fields, the cyclotron accelerates the protons up to 2/3 the speed of light, all within fractions of a second.”

What could be easier?

This is false. It is totally a coincidence.

Although Loma Linda University is indeed in California (home of Disneyland), and the University of Florida Health Proton Therapy Institute is of course in Florida (home of Disney World), there is no documented relationship with any of the Disney family or fun parks. Yes, rumor has it that patients at these two prominent facilities do indeed like to have fun, but the geographical proximity of LLU and UFHPTI to the Disney fun parks is a complete—and fortunate—coincidence.

He also predicted “visaphone” video phone calls (like FaceTime, Skype, and others), desalination “water factories,” solar energy in “follow-the-sun” houses, and more. According to inverse.com, Arthur Radebaugh depicted these predictions in his syndicated column.

Radebaugh described curing cancer with proton beams as “bloodless surgery.” In a surprisingly detailed illustration, he not only shows, but labels the “sychro-cyclotron” and the “proton beam.” Have a look at this guy’s amazing artwork.

Maybe the question should instead be, “How many cyclotrons can you fit on a boat?” or better yet, “How many synchrotrons can you buy for the price of a boat?”

This article says the UAE prezzie’s boat is 590 feet long. Most cyclotrons are merely the size of a football field. So at a cost of $770 million for the boat, Khalifa Al Nahyan could have built a fully-staffed floating proton therapy facility instead—with plenty of money left for a nice dinner. Or a small golf course.

In other words, what’s your “elevator speech” for proton therapy? With only a few seconds to answer between the fourth floor and lobby, how do you respond to, “Hey, so what’s this proton stuff all about, anyway?”

As is often the case on a quiz, the answer to this is contained in an earlier question. A good one-sentence elevator speech would be:

Unlike conventional photon/x-ray radiation which radiates healthy tissue on the way to and from the target, proton has much lower radiation levels on the way in, maximum punch at the target, and undetectable levels beyond, thereby subjecting less healthy tissue to radiation and reducing the likelihood of nasty side effects and secondary cancers later.

If you can come up with a shorter yet complete answer, please email it to me!

WAIT! Don’t read the answer until you’ve tested your research skills. See if you can find the answer on your own. I’ll bet not. Even as a retired I.T. guy with pretty good research skills, I failed to find the answer.

You probably did find that Bob’s Marckini is more formally known as Robert J. Marckini, so that narrows it down. Could the “J” stand for James? Jack? Jessup? Jeewiz? Jolly? Jupiter? Jeronimo? I guessed it was Joseph because it sounded good to me between Robert and Marckini. Bob’s daughter Deb was kind enough to confirm that I guessed correctly. Did you?

By the way, my middle initial is also “J” and I’ll bet you twenty useless points you can’t find out what my middle name is. Think you know? Email me! Hint: it is none of the names in the previous paragraph.