Overcoming tumor hypoxia as a barrier to radiotherapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy in cancer treatment.

Hypoxia exists to some degree in most solid tumors due to inadequate oxygen delivery of the abnormal vasculature which cannot meet the demands of the rapidly proliferating cancer cells. The levels of oxygenation within the same tumor are highly variable from one area to another and can change over time. Tumor hypoxia is an important impediment to effective cancer therapy. In radiotherapy, the primary mechanism is the creation of reactive oxygen species; hypoxic tumors are therefore radiation resistant. A number of chemotherapeutic drugs have been shown to be less effective when exposed to a hypoxic environment which can lead to further disease progression.

Further application of hyperbaric oxygen in prostate cancer.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been used as an adjuvant treatment for multiple pathological states, which involves hypoxic conditions. Over the past 50 years, HBOT has been recommended and used in a wide variety of medical conditions, clinically in the treatment of ischemic or nonhealing wounds and radiation-injured tissue, and in the treatment of malignancy. The mechanism of this treatment is providing oxygen under pressure which is higher than the atmosphere thus increasing tissue oxygen concentration. When cells get enough oxygen in the microenvironment, they become active and replicate effectively. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer and the fifth leading cause of cancer death among male around the world.

Progressive resistance training to prevent arm lymphedema in the first year after breast cancer surgery: Results of a randomized controlled trial.

Existing research suggests that progressive resistance training (PRT) after breast cancer (BC) surgery is safe, but the preventive effect on arm lymphedema has yet to be determined. Women aged 18 to 75 years who were undergoing BC surgery with axillary lymph node dissection were eligible for the study. Recruited on the day of surgery, participants were allocated to intervention or usual care by computer randomization. The intervention consisted of PRT 3 times per week: in the first 20 weeks as a supervised group exercise and in the last 30 weeks as a self-administered exercise. The primary outcome was arm lymphedema, which was defined as a >3% increase in the interlimb volume difference by water displacement.