Megavoltage radiotherapy in hyperbaric oxygen.A controlled trial

Abstract

A controlled trial of megavoltage radiotherapy in hyperbaric oxygen in the management of carcinoma of the bronchus and bladder has been in progress since January 1964. A dose of 6000 R is given with a 60Cobalt unit using daily fractionation for eight weeks, either in air or hyperbaric oxygen at 3 atm pressure, on a basis of random selection. A preliminary review is given of the results in the first 89 patients in the trial, with a minimum follow-up period of six months. The response in 51 additional patients, treated for other conditions by megavoltage radiotherapy in hyperbaric oxygen outside the trial, is discussed briefly. In all, 2363 treatments have been given in hyperbaric oxygen to these two groups of patients. The results, although not yet conclusive, are disappointing and the possibility of increasing the rate of growth of metastases by hyperbaric oxygenation is raised.