Low oxygen levels within tumor cells (tumor hypoxia) is a major signal for these cancer cells to produce more blood vessels (angiogenesis) and rapidly grow. Not only does that make them much more aggressive, but it also makes them much more resistant to both chemotherapy and radiation therapy. This is truly a dangerous combination and why there has been so much attention in the medical field (and with oncologists) to reduce tumor hypoxia. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is one of the most effective, and most practical, ways to alleviate tumor hypoxia. The protocol used in this study was a high pressure protocol at 2.5 ATA for 90 minutes, with treatments performed every 3rd day. The results were extremely promising and researchers concluded, “HBOT significantly suppressed tumor growth in both the triple positive and negative tumors…  Despite the fact that behavior and prognosis of the triple positive and negative subtypes of cancer are different, the HBOT had a similar suppressive effect on tumor growth, indicating that they share a common oxygen dependent anti-tumor mechanism. Furthermore, HBOT significantly reduced the number and area of metastatic lesions in the triple negative model.” We have come a long way in our understanding of tumor growth, in relation to hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). Since HBOT stimulates angiogenesis (new blood vessel growth), the long-standing concern was that this mechanism may stimulate the growth of new cancer cells through the same mechanism. Over, the last 2 decades, not only has this hypothesis clearly been refuted, but solid evidence, as demonstrated in this and many other studies, are making us shift our attention toward utilizing HBOT within many current cancer treatment programs <view study> Read Less

A 74 year old female was treated for breast cancer with radiation therapy. 13 years later, she noticed a small ulcer, and in another 12 years, she was diagnosed with late onset radiation-induced skin ulcer (a total of 25 years) and prescribed hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). After 1 year and 100 HBOT sessions, she made a full recovery! <view study> Read Less

Free radical, oxidative stress, and inflammation are all common markers that are exhibited during many, if not all, pathologies and the hallmark of many chronic disease states. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been traditionally used for reducing the damaging effects of radiation therapy (RT). Since RT has been shown to cause excessive oxidative stress and inflammation, researchers took note of HBOT's potential to reverse both of these factors involved in radiation damaged tissue <view study> Read Less

The chemotherapy drug Gemcitabine, is used for treating certain cancers, including advanced pancreatic cancer. It delivers oxygen to the tumors and thus makes the chemo drug more toxic to the targeted cancer, allowing a greater cancer killing effect. This results of this study (published in the anticancer research journal) confirmed this effect, and showed a significant enhancement of Gemcitabine’s cancer killing effect when hyperbaric oxygen therapy was applied concurrently <view study> Read Less

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is now being used in conjunction with both chemotherapy and radiotherapy for it’s ability to help increase the sensitivity of both treatments for malignant brain tumors. The authors go over some of the new protocols being deployed, with one of them being radiation therapy given within 15 minutes from hyperbaric exposure. This allows more oxygen into the brain, thus making the radiation therapy more effective. In addition, carboplatin-based chemotherapy combined with hyperbaric oxygen show a significant advantage in survival for recurrent malignant brain tumors <view study> Read Less