Gas Therapies Show Promise as New Cancer Treatments with Fewer Side Effects
- Authors
- Peng Ji, Kexin Yang, Qingqing Xu, Guilin Qin, Qianyu Zhu, Ying Qian, Wenshui Yao
- Journal
- Pharmaceuticals
- Year
- 2023
- DOI
- 10.3390/ph16101394
- Study Type
- clinical
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Cancer
- Body System
- Immune System
TL;DR
Scientists found that special gases like hydrogen and others can fight cancer better than regular medicines because they work in different ways inside your body and cause fewer harmful side effects.
Key Finding
Gas signaling molecules, particularly hydrogen, show promise as anticancer agents that may work through multiple biological mechanisms and potentially cause fewer side effects than conventional cancer drugs.
Summary
This review article examines how certain gases—including hydrogen, carbon dioxide, nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, and sulfur dioxide—may help fight cancer. The authors explain how these gases work in the body to signal cells and describe their potential advantages over traditional cancer treatments, which often have serious side effects and don't always prevent cancer from returning.
Practical Takeaway
This is a review article summarizing existing research rather than a new study with experimental results, so it cannot provide direct evidence about hydrogen water's effectiveness. While the review suggests hydrogen gas has theoretical anticancer potential, most evidence discussed appears to be from laboratory and animal studies, not human trials. Anyone considering hydrogen water for cancer should consult their oncologist, as this review does not establish safety or efficacy in people.
Abstract
Cancer is still one of the major factors threatening public health, with morbidity and mortality rates at the forefront of the world. Clinical drawbacks, such as high toxicity and side effects of drug therapy, and easy recurrence after surgery affect its therapeutic effect. Gas signaling molecules are essential in maintaining biological homeostasis and physiological functions as specific chemical substances for biological information transfer. In recent years, the physiological regulatory functions of gas molecules in the cancer process have been gradually revealed and have shown broad application prospects in tumor therapy. In this paper, standard gas therapies are classified and introduced. Taking H2, CO2, NO, CO, H2S, and SO2 gases as examples, the research progress and application of gas therapies in malignant tumors are mainly introduced in terms of biological characteristics, anticancer mechanisms, and treatment strategies. Finally, the problems and prospects for developing gases as anticancer drugs are outlined.