'Bends' treatment in cancer trial

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can also help to treat people with burns

Oxygen treatment given to divers with decompression sickness may be able to help cancer patients suffering from the side effects of radiotherapy.

Hyperbaric oxygen treatment involves patients breathing 100% oxygen while in a pressurised treatment chamber.

The treatment is also used to help injured athletes heal more quickly.

The Institute of Cancer Research is to carry out trials at specialist centres in Plymouth, London, Chichester, Great Yarmouth, Hull, the Wirral and Cardiff.

Doctors hope the treatment will alleviate unpleasant side effects associated with radiotherapy for cancer in the pelvic region.

Pelvic cancers include those of the cervix, the ovaries, the prostate, the testicles, the bowel, the bladder and the womb.

We hope to answer once and for all whether hyperbaric oxygen therapy will improve their quality of life Prof John Yarnold

Most patients return to normal within a few weeks of stopping radiotherapy, however about 30% develop long term problems that can interfere with their daily lives, including diarrhoea, stomach cramps and frequent bowel movements.

The clinical trials, involving 75 patients, are being run by Professor John Yarnold, from the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden Hospital.

He said: "It's very difficult for patients who have already suffered through cancer and radiotherapy treatment to be left with these debilitating side-effects.

"We hope to answer once and for all whether hyperbaric oxygen therapy will improve their quality of life."

The Diving Diseases Research Centre in Plymouth is a purpose-built research and treatment facility set up in 1996.

Other medical conditions treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy include carbon monoxide poisoning, smoke inhalation, diabetic wounds, exceptional blood loss, skin grafts and burns.

Hyperbaric chambers are also used at therapy centres to treat people with multiple sclerosis.