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Breathing pure oxygen in a pressurised chamber, over 30 to 40 sessions, helps heal radiation damage to the jaw, bladder and bowel that appears years after treatment. A Cochrane review found moderate-quality evidence of benefit for these sites, and little for others.
Late radiation tissue injury results from progressive small-vessel damage and fibrosis, leaving hypoxic tissue that will not heal. Hyperbaric oxygen (100 percent oxygen at 2 to 2.5 atmospheres for 90 minutes, typically 30 to 40 sessions) raises tissue oxygen tension, stimulating angiogenesis and fibroblast function. A 2016 Cochrane review of 14 randomised trials found moderate-quality evidence that hyperbaric oxygen improves outcomes in radiation proctitis, osteoradionecrosis of the jaw (including healing after dental extraction) and haemorrhagic cystitis, with insufficient evidence for radiation neuropathy, brain necrosis and soft-tissue injury of other sites. Adverse effects are middle-ear barotrauma, transient myopia and, rarely, oxygen seizures. Access is limited to specialised chambers and the course is time-consuming.
Supraphysiological oxygen gradients drive neovascularisation and collagen synthesis in chronically hypoxic irradiated tissue, allowing healing to restart.
Query for this technology: (TITLE:"Hyperbaric oxygen for late radiation injury" OR ABSTRACT:"Hyperbaric oxygen for late radiation injury") AND (cancer OR tumor OR tumour OR oncology OR carcinoma OR lymphoma OR leukemia OR leukaemia OR myeloma OR sarcoma OR melanoma OR glioma). Results are unfiltered search hits about Hyperbaric oxygen for late radiation injury, not a curated reading list.
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