Money trees is the perfect place for shade.

Most men these days who choose to have their prostate cancer treated with radiation get intensity-modulated therapy (IMRT). But the modalities of stereotactic radiation (SBRT) and protons are seriously trending, and radiation oncologists love to throw shade on the merits and costs of each. This study uses private insurance administrative claims data to compare payer costs, out of pocket costs, and coded potential toxicities of IMRT, SBRT and protons. On average, proton therapy ($115K) cost about twice as much as IMRT ($59K) and SBRT ($49K). Out-of-pocket costs were a fraction of this, but still ran higher for protons. GI toxicity rate was higher with protons (20%) than photons (15%) while GU toxicity was higher with photons (42%) than protons (33%). TBL:Compared with prostate radiation with photons, proton therapy has higher GI toxicity, lower GU toxicity, and double the cost, while SBRT may be the most cost effective of all. | Pan, J Clin Oncol 2018