A chance for life

By Becky Buher

Conventional radiation using photon rays was out of the question for Reynolds. Conventional treatment had the potential of killing the tumor, but it also could damage surrounding tissues producing serious brain damage—in this case, loss of motor or speech function, paralysis, blindness or all of the above. While there were still dangers in proton therapy, a proton beam could be delivered directly into the tumor, largely diminishing collateral damage.

Proton therapy had been used since 1961 at the Harvard Cyclotron Laboratory, in association with the Massachusetts General Hospital, and since 1990, at Loma Linda University Medical Center. The IUCF and the IU School of Medicine were still awaiting federal approval to become the third U.S. treatment site, but Food and Drug Administration provisions did allow a single exception. In an emergency situation, a medical research facility could treat one human subject before gaining FDA approval. This provision became Reynolds’ hope.

Reynolds’ emergency situation fit the criterion, and he became the first patient treated at the facility in Bloomington, which today is the Midwest Proton Radiation Institute.

In September 1993, Reynolds received the first of five treatments. After each treatment, with no disabling side effects, Reynolds walked out of the IUCF to resume his activities.

The proton beam treatment would destroy the tumor, but unlike surgery, the tumor would not immediately be gone. The human body has its own mechanism to dissolve the dead tissue. The dead tumor would shrink—at best, it would totally disappear.

Reynolds and his family knew that the medical and scientific communities did not consider proton therapy an exact cure. While the superior dose distribution of protons would do a better job than conventional surgery and radiation therapy at controlling the tumor, there was a case-by-case probability that new tumors might form. And, in Reynolds’ case, another, operable tumor did materialize.

After a successful surgery for this second tumor was performed, he returned to daily life in time to participate in his sister’s wedding.

Later, yet another tumor emerged, but this time there was no “cure.” Reynolds died in November 1996. Those who were privileged to share the moments of his life still remember his smile, his zest for living, his strength, integrity and courage. His family appreciated every moment of time the IUCF procedure provided—extended years of life, years marked by quality time together and hope derived from a new medical treatment.