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. 2023 Feb:67:46-54.
doi: 10.1016/j.breast.2022.12.009. Epub 2022 Dec 22.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for local late radiation toxicity in breast cancer patients: A systematic review

E L Meier  1 , D R Mink van der Molen  2 , C A Lansdorp  3 , M C T Batenburg  2 , F van der Leij  2 , H M Verkooijen  2 , O Boonstra  3 , S Hummelink  4 , D J O Ulrich  4
Affiliations

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for local late radiation toxicity in breast cancer patients: A systematic review

E L Meier et al. Breast. 2023 Feb.

Abstract

Purpose: This systematic review aims to provide an overview of the literature on the effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) on symptoms of local late radiation toxicity (LRT) in patients treated for breast cancer.

Methods: A systematic search was performed in September 2021. All studies with a sample size of ≥10 patients reporting the effect of HBOT for symptoms of LRT after radiotherapy of the breast and/or chest wall were included. The ROBINS-I tool was used for critical appraisal of methodological quality. The toxicity outcomes pain, fibrosis, lymphedema, necrosis/skin problems, arm and shoulder mobility, and breast and arm symptoms were evaluated.

Results: Nine studies concerning a total of 1308 patients were included in this review. Except for one study, sample sizes were small. Most studies had inadequate methodology with a substantial risk of bias. Post-HBOT, a significant reduction of pain was observed in 4/5 studies, of fibrosis in 1/2 studies, and of lymphedema of the breast and/or arm in 4/7 studies. Skin problems of the breast were significantly reduced in 1/2 studies, arm- and shoulder mobility significantly improved in 2/2 studies, and breast- and arm symptoms were significantly reduced in one study.

Conclusion: This systematic review indicates that HBOT might be useful for reducing symptoms of LRT in breast cancer patients, however evidence is limited. A randomized controlled trial in a larger cohort of patients including a combination of patient- and clinician-reported outcome measures would be valuable to assess the effect of HBOT on symptoms of LRT.

Keywords: Breast cancer; Fibrosis; Hyperbaric oxygen therapy; Lymphedema; Pain; Radiation toxicity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart of included studies to assess the effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on symptoms of late radiation toxicity in breast cancer patients.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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