Hyperbaric oxygen and radiation therapy: a review

About 5% of cancer patients treated with radiotherapy will have severe late-onset toxicity. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been used as a treatment for radiation injuries for decades, with many publications presenting data from small series or individual cases. Moreover, we know that the hypoxic areas of tumours are more resistant to radiation. HBOT increases the oxygen tension in tissues and, theoretically, it should enhance the efficiency of radiotherapy. To better understand how HBOT works, we carried out this bibliographic review. We found Grade B and C evidence that at pressures exceeding 2 absolute atmospheres (ata), HBOT reduced late-onset radiation injuries to the head and neck, bone, prostate and bladder. It also appeared to prevent osteoradionecrosis after exodontia in irradiated areas. Finally, HBOT at 2 ata increased the effectiveness of radiation in head and neck tumours and achieved promising results in the local control of high-grade gliomas.

[An analysis of 14,000 patients admitted to an internal medicine service during 1982-1988]

We analysed the discharge reports of patients admitted during 1982-1988 to an internal medicine department of a university hospital. There were 927 deaths among 13,913 patients (6.66%); the median age of the persons admitted was 59.50 years while the median age of the patients who died was 72.87 years. Both groups suffered from several afflictions; the most frequent among the hospital-admission group being: blood hypertension, pneumonia, diabetes mellitus, and the group who eventually died: pneumonia, cerebrovascular and neoplastic disease.