Patients suffering from debilitating side effects of pelvic cancer radiation treatments can now find lasting hope. A groundbreaking five-year study published this week in The Lancet eClinicalMedicine reveals that hyperbaric oxygen therapy provides durable, long-term relief for radiation-induced urinary problems.
The Nordic RICH-ART trial, involving 70 patients across five university hospitals, showed significant improvements in bladder function that persisted half a decade after treatment. Nearly 70% of patients responded positively to the therapy, which involves breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized chamber.
“Patients who respond to treatment go from being very distressed by their symptoms and restricted by their need to have quick access to a toilet, to being able to live a fully normal life,” explains Nicklas Oscarsson, senior consultant and principal investigator at the University of Gothenburg and Sahlgrenska University Hospital. “Now we know that this pronounced improvement lasts for at least five years. The treatment can therefore lead to the healing of an otherwise chronic injury.”
While radiation therapy successfully destroys cancer cells in organs like the prostate, colon, ovaries and cervix, between 5-10% of patients develop severe side effects when healthy tissue is damaged. Symptoms can include urinary incontinence, bleeding, and intense pain — problems that often emerge years after treatment and progressively worsen.
The study found that patients’ mean urinary function scores improved by 19.1 points on a standardized scale five years after treatment – well above the 9-point threshold considered clinically meaningful. Even more striking, some patients classified as non-responders at six months showed delayed improvement at later checkpoints.
The therapy’s effects stem from how cells adapt to high oxygen levels. “The increased levels of oxygen provided in a hyperbaric chamber increases vascular growth and stops chronic inflammation, reducing severe side effects,” notes the research report.
Despite these promising results, researchers believe hyperbaric oxygen therapy remains underutilized. “We have reason to believe that there are many patients with severe symptoms who are never referred to hyperbaric oxygen therapy,” Oscarsson states. “Today we already have the capacity to treat more patients, but we need to be better at sharing our knowledge with our colleagues and with patient associations.”
The treatment protocol involves 90-minute daily sessions in a hyperbaric chamber for 30-40 days, under pressure equivalent to being 14 meters underwater. While seemingly intensive, the study demonstrates the investment yields years of relief from otherwise intractable symptoms.
Beyond improving quality of life for current radiation patients, this research opens new possibilities for cancer treatment itself. Radiation doses are currently limited by concerns about side effects. A reliable method to address these complications could potentially allow for more aggressive, curative treatment approaches.
Researchers suggest further investigation into whether earlier hyperbaric oxygen intervention might prevent severe side effects from developing in the first place – potentially transforming the experience of thousands of cancer survivors worldwide.
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