Hyperbaric Oxygen Boosts Potency of Natural Anti-Cancer Compound

Combining a natural remedy used to treat malaria with a high-oxygen environment is showing great promise as a treatment for cancer. Henry Lai and colleagues at the University of Washington and Washington State University studied the effect of artemisinin, a compound isolated form Artemisia annua L, and high-pressure oxygen on a culture of human leukemia cells. Results showed that using artemisinin or high-pressure oxygen alone reduced the growth of the cancer cells by 15%. However, using them in combination reduced their growth by 38%. "If you combine high-pressure oxygen with artemisinin you can get a much better curing effect," said Lai. "Artemisinin is a promising low-cost cancer treatment because it's specific, it's cheap and you don't have to inject it." Lai hypothesized that high oxygen levels would enhance the efficacy of artemisinin,  because oxygen promotes the formation of free radicals.