Hyperbaric Oxygen Cancer Therapy

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves breathing pure oxygen while in a chamber pressurized at up to three times that of the normal atmosphere. So far, it has been approved as a treatment for decompression sickness, gangrene, brain abscess and injuries where tissues are not getting enough oxygen. According to the American Cancer Society, though, oxygen therapy has also been shown to heal damage caused by radiation treatment.

How is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Performed?

• Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, or HBOT, can be performed in a monoplace chamber, able to fit only one person, or in a multi-place chamber that up to a dozen patients can share. A monoplace chamber is typically a clear plastic tube, roughly 7 feet long, that the patient lies in and breathes normally while technicians slowly increase the pressure. Patients may feel their ears pop or become dizzy while undergoing the therapy, and people who are particularly at risk to the side effects of inhaling pure oxygen (cardiac arrest, collapsed lung, among others) might have HBOT interspersed with breathing normal air.

What Are the Benefits?

• According to "Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Radiation Necrosis" by Hani L. Ashamalla, MD, et al., hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been shown through numerous studies to speed healing in soft tissue and bone damaged by radiation treatments. The pure oxygen in a hyperbaric chamber sparks the rebuilding of blood vessels in the damaged tissue, with recovery in the 80 to 85 percent range. However, HBOT can only work this well when used in conjunction with conventional therapies. Ashamalla states that only 8 percent of patients showed any benefit when HBOT was the only treatment used.

  Another benefit is eliminating hypoxia, or lack of oxygen, as a cause of radiation resistance in cancerous tumors. Normal oxygen flow in tissue cells depends on blood flow and metabolism, both of which are impeded in tumors, resulting in hypoxia. Intense oxygen therapy through HBOT and a chemical emulsion mentioned by Matthew Galas ("The Real Story Behind Oxygen Therapy" Vanderbilt University Psychology Department), have both been used to virtually eliminate this condition in cancerous cells.

What Are the Drawbacks?

• The enclosed nature of an HBOT chamber lends itself to several side effects. Barotrauma, the failure of pressure to equalize both inside and outside the body, is a notable danger. Ashamalla states that damage to the eardrum is the most common iteration of barotrauma in a hyperbaric chamber. Intense pain and bleeding into the middle ear may happen. Other occurrences of barotrauma involve damage and bleeding in the lungs, sinuses and alveoli. In some cases, Ashamalla states, there may even be an air embolism.

  Oxygen toxicity is another problem, though it is primarily only a concern when chamber pressure reaches three times normal atmosphere, and is uncommon at lower levels. According to the American Cancer Society, breaks in the treatment sessions where the patient breathes normal air can avoid the chance of oxygen toxicity all together.

  The oxygen-rich environment of a hyperbaric chamber can lend itself to fire damage as well, but this danger is lessened in multi-place chambers where the pressure is lower than a single patient chamber.