ONCOLOGY
ONCOLOGY
Cancer treatment has improved significantly over the past decade and there is an ongoing focus on not only finding more and better ways to treat cancers but also to improve quality of life of the cancer survivor.
Hyperbaric Oxygenation (HBO) has been proposed as a part of the overall treatment since the mid-1960s and several studies have reported beneficial effects. Hyperbaric oxygen helps reduce morbidity, disfiguring sequel and further need for corrective surgery.
Source: Role of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in oncology and radiation induced tissue damage, Tarun Sahni, Madhur Jain, S. Hukku, G.K. Jadhav, , Apollo Medicine, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2004, Pages 186-189, ISSN 0976-0016, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0976-0016(11)60246-9
Hypoxia is a critical hallmark of solid tumors and involves enhanced cell survival, angiogenesis, glycolytic metabolism, and metastasis. Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) treatment has for centuries been used to improve or cure disorders involving hypoxia and ischemia, by enhancing the amount of dissolved oxygen in the plasma and thereby increasing O2 delivery to the tissue.
Studies on HBO and cancer have up to recently focused on whether enhanced oxygen acts as a cancer promoter or not. As oxygen is believed to be required for all the major processes of wound healing, one feared that the effects of HBO would be applicable to cancer tissue as well and promote cancer growth. Furthermore, one also feared that exposing patients who had been treated for cancer, to HBO, would lead to recurrence.
Nevertheless, two systematic reviews on HBO and cancer have concluded that the use of HBO in patients with malignancies is considered safe.
Based on several reviews and research studies, there is no evidence indicating that HBO neither acts as a stimulator of tumor growth nor as an enhancer of recurrence. On the other hand, there is evidence that implies that HBO might have tumor-inhibitory effects in certain cancer subtypes.
Source: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy and cancer–a review. Moen, I., & Stuhr, L. E. (2012). Targeted oncology, 7(4), 233–242. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11523-012-0233-x
See the section below for detailed information in studies related to your specialty.
RESEARCH AND STUDIES
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy and cancer a review https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3510426/pdf/11523_2012_Article_233.pdf
Role of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in oncology and radiation induced tissue damage https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0976001611602469
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for the Treatment and Prevention of Radionecrosis and Other Radiation-Induced Injuries in Cancer Patients https://www.cancercareontario.ca/sites/ccocancercare/files/guidelines/full/pebchbotf.pdf
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Reducing Adverse Events of Chemoradiation therapy for Esophageal Cancer https://www.redjournal.org/action/showPdf?pii=S0360-3016%2812%2901738-5
Hyperbaric Contraindicated Chemotherapeutic Agents https://www.statpearls.com/ArticleLibrary/viewarticle/31603
Hyperbaric oxygen for radiation cystitis https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(19)30574-1
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy safe, effective for treating symptoms of late radiation cystitis https://www.healio.com/news/hematology-oncology/20191107/hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-safe-effective-for-treating-symptoms-of-late-radiation-cystitis
Hyperbaric Oxygen for Radiation Necrosis of the Brain https://doi.org/10.1017/cjn.2019.290
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy effectively treats long-term damage from radiation therapy https://www.uclahealth.org/hyperbaric/Workfiles/clinical_updates/hyperbaric/HyperRad-01-15-13.pdf
