Hydrogen Therapy in Lung CancerScientific Research

Hydrogen Therapy Shows Promise in Reversing Advanced Lung Cancer

Abstract:

Hydrogen therapy has demonstrated potential in restoring the immune system of patients with advanced lung cancer. This conclusion is based on a scientific report published in 2020 with an official DOI number.

Methods:

The report stems from a scientific study investigating the relationship between oncology and the overall state of the immune system. The study involved 20 patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who underwent hydrogen therapy.

Key Findings:

The study concluded that hydrogen effectively contributes to immune system enhancement and has a positive impact on the overall condition of lung cancer patients. Hydrogen is an antioxidant gas that has been shown to penetrate lymphocytes and neutralize free radicals.

Significant Findings:

Additionally, the cited report presents the first evidence that hydrogen inhalation can significantly improve the state of both the adaptive and innate immune systems.

Immune Senescence and Cancer Progression:

Immunosenescence is a process of biological aging associated with a progressive decline in systemic immunity with advancing age. It is also known that the overall immune system deteriorates with cancer progression, resulting in reduced levels of certain types of immune cells. This can be a cause for the recurrence of malignant tumors and their metastasis.

Challenges of Relapse and Metastasis:

Recurrent and metastatic malignant tumors are difficult to control due to three main reasons, one of which is immunosenescence. The other two reasons are the cancer therapy itself and certain tumor-related factors.

Study Design and Results:

All patients participating in the study received hydrogen inhalation for 4 hours daily for a period of 2 weeks. Prior to treatment, patients had low levels of immune cells from six cell subgroups that are crucial for the body’s fight against cancer. After two weeks of hydrogen therapy, the levels of the diminished immune cells increased to normal ranges.

Conclusions and Implications:

The study’s findings suggest the potential of hydrogen therapy to restore the immune system. Hydrogen inhalation can alter systemic immune suppression and thus reduce the invasiveness of lung tumors. Considering the disease and pulmonary symptoms of shortness of breath, cough, and chest pain that improved following hydrogen therapy, the researchers conducting the study argue that hydrogen treatment holds great promise for lung cancer patients.

Future Directions:

While research in the field of hydrogen therapy is still in its early stages, the results are highly promising.


The Original Article:

original title: Two weeks of hydrogen inhalation can significantly reverse adaptive and innate immune system senescence patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer: a self-controlled study

DOI: 10.4103/2045-9912.304221

Published on: 2020


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Abstract:

Following standard treatments, the traditional model for enhancing anti-tumor immunity involves performing immune reconstitution (e.g., adoptive immune cell therapies or immunoenhancing drugs) to prevent recurrence. For patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, we report here on two objectives, the immunosenescence for advanced non-small cell lung cancer and hydrogen gas inhalation for immune reconstitution. From July 1st to September 25th, 2019, 20 non-small cell lung cancer patients were enrolled to evaluate the immunosenescence of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets, including T cell, natural killer/natural killer T cell and gamma delta T cell. Two weeks of hydrogen inhalation was performed during the waiting period for treatment-related examination. All patients inhaled a mixture of hydrogen (66.7%) and oxygen (33.3%) with a gas flow rate of 3 L/min for 4 hours each day. None of the patients received any standard treatment during the hydrogen inhalation period. After pretreatment testing, major indexes of immunosenescence were observed. The abnormally higher indexes included exhausted cytotoxic T cells, senescent cytotoxic T cells, and killer Vδ1 cells. After 2 weeks of hydrogen therapy, the number of exhausted and senescent cytotoxic T cells decreased to within the normal range, and there was an increase in killer Vδ1 cells. The abnormally lower indexes included functional helper and cytotoxic T cells, Th1, total natural killer T cells, natural killer, and Vδ2 cells. After 2 weeks of hydrogen therapy, all six cell subsets increased to within the normal range. The current data indicate that the immunosenescence of advanced non-small cell lung cancer involves nearly all lymphocyte subsets, and 2 weeks of hydrogen treatment can significantly improve most of these indexes. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Fuda Cancer Hospital, Jinan University in China (approval No. Fuda20181207) on December 7th, 2018, and was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (ID: NCT03818347) on January 24th, 2019.

Authors:

Feng Mu, Ji-Bing Chen, Ke-Cheng Xu, Tian-Yu Lu, Wei Qian, Xiao-Feng Kong, You-Yong Lu

Original Publication
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