Cancer team tests diving chamber aid

Researchers are examining harnessing hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which is used to help divers recover from the bends or elite sportsmen overcome injuries more quickly, on symptoms affecting a third of patients who receive radiotherapy in the pelvic area.

Studies have suggested high pressure oxygen treatment can permanently ease long-term bowel problems that affect the quality of life of patients who have had cancers of the cervix, womb, ovary, prostate, testes, rectum or bladder including diarrhoea, stomach cramps and bleeding.

The trial sponsored by the Royal Marsden Hospital in Surrey and Institute of Cancer Research in London is under way at hyperbaric centres around the country – including the unit at the Spire Hospital in Hull.

Cancer specialist Professor John Yarnold, who leading the trial, said: “It’s very difficult for patients who have already coped with cancer and radiotherapy to be left with these side-effects. We are looking to try and answer once and for all whether hyperbaric oxygen therapy reverses symptoms and improves quality of life.”

The treatment is given five days a week for eight weeks although one out of three volunteers receive normal air to account for the placebo effects of the therapy.

The trial is being funded by the charity Cancer Research UK and the Department of Health and is looking for patients who have suffered side effects for at least a year. Travel costs are reimbursed by the research team. Potential volunteers can call the trial co-ordinator Grace Sharp on 020 8661 3273.