HBOT In Cancer Care
Anemia
Anemia is a frequent result of cancer and cancer treatment. The anemia of cancer and cancer treatment should also respond well to HBOT. The ability of HBOT to stimulate the bone marrow is the rationale for use of HBOT in acute blood loss anemia. Chronic anemia can also respond well to HBOT. Addition of HBOT to erythropoetin treatment of anemia should increase and speed response. 34-year-old female with Lupus who developed osteomyelitis of distal 5th finger. The surgical recommendation was amputation of the finger. The osteomyelitis was cured with antibiotics and 60 days of HBOT at 2ATA for 2 hours per day. Her hemoglobin increased 3.8 grams and the patient had her first period in 5 years. MUCOSITIS AND ESOPHAGITIS Mucositis and esophagitis are debilitating complications of chemotherapy and radiation therapy with a higher incidence in concurrent or sequential treatment programs. Recent reports indicate a complicating factor is a superimposed pseudomonas infection. HBOT speeds healing, reduces edema and is very effective against pseudomonas infection. Amifostine (Ethyol) and recombinant human kevatinocyte growth factor (rhukgforkgf) are reported as treatments for mucositis and esophagitis. Adding HBOT to these treatments should significantly improve response. Therefore, the use of HBOT for muscositis and esophagitis should also be considered as acute ucositis and esophagitis respond well to HBOT. 54-year-old diabetic who ruptured his Achilles tendon. Post-operatively, he developed pseudomonas infection that progressed in spite of antibiotics. Achilles tendon is shown in infected wound before HBOT.
At Start of HBOT Development of granulation tissue after 20 treatments of HBOT at 2ATA 2 hours per day. Response at 2 Weeks Skin graft doing well. HBOT was continued . Patient received 120 HBOT treatments. At one year follow-up there was 100% take of graft. Prior to HBOT patient had one to two TIA’s per month. Post HBOT, no TIA’s for one year.
The use of HBOT as an adjunct to radiation therapy was tried 40 years ago. At that time, the radiation therapy was given while the patient was at pressure in the hyperbaric chamber. As both the normal cells and the cancer cells were hyperoxygenated, the expected increase in cancer control and decrease in modality did not occur. Twenty years ago, I started using HBOT prior to the radiation therapy treatment for difficult cases. This technique of HBOT immediately before the radiation therapy worked well with my patients . In a 1999 article, Drs. Kohshi, Kanugita, Kinoshita and Abe from Japan, reported using this technique of HBOT before radiation therapy. They found a 50 percent increase in survival for brain tumor patients using the pre-radiation HBOT treatment.
Using HBOT before the radiation therapy treatment permits the normal tissue to return to standard oxygenation while the less vascular cancer will still have an increased oxygen level as does the slow healing wound post HBOT. It is well documented that good oxygenation is needed for full response to a dose of radiation therapy.
34-year-old white female with synovial cell carcoma of chest wall. Patient was given 4,000 rads to chest wall with HBOT 2 hours at 2ATA just before each radiation therapy treatment. At one month after completion of radiation, patient had wide surgical excision and skin graft followed by an additional 20 days of HBOT post graft. Graft take was 100 percent as shown at one-year post graft. Eighteen years post treatment, there is no recurrence.
References available upon request.
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