What Researchers Did
Chinese oncologists added HBOT to the treatment plan of a single patient with advanced stomach cancer (hepatoid adenocarcinoma with peritoneal spread) who had stopped responding to standard immunotherapy and chemotherapy.
What They Found
After four cycles of standard treatment, the patient showed only stable disease (no improvement). When HBOT was added starting after the fifth treatment cycle, the patient's tumour markers dropped to normal levels, and subsequent imaging showed complete disappearance of all tumours, a clinical complete response. This suggests HBOT may have reversed resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors by reducing hypoxia in the tumour environment.
Canadian Relevance
No direct Canadian connection identified.
Study Limitations
This is a single case report and cannot establish causation between HBOT and the complete response; spontaneous response or delayed chemotherapy effect cannot be excluded without a controlled study.