The Enhancing Effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen on Mouse Skin Carcinogenesis

The effects of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) on mouse skin two-stage chemical carcinogenesis were examined. Six-week-old inbred CD-1 female mice were divided into the following five groups: group 1, normoxia and application of 25 nmol 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) and 8.5 nmol 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) (n=19); group 2, HBO and DMBA/TPA (n=21); group 3, HBO and DMBA/acetone (n=3); group 4, normoxia and acetone (n=3); and group 5, non-treatment group (n=5). HBO was started at the same time as DMBA. Mice were euthanized at 23 weeks after the start of the experiment. Mice in group 2 showed the occurrence of tumors at 8 weeks after the beginning of the experiment, while the occurrence of tumors in mice in group 1 was observed beginning at 9 weeks. There was a difference in occurrence among low-grade papillomas, high-grade papillomas and SCCs in both groups 1 and 2 by the χ(2)-test at end of the experiment (p<0.05). The Ki-67 labeling indices of tumors revealed that the percentages of positive cells in low-grade papillomas in groups 1 and 2 were 15.27 ± 2.54% and 29.67 ± 2.82%, respectively (p<0.01). The results suggested that the tumors in group 2, which was treated with HBO, were more progressive than those in group 1, which was not treated with HBO. In this study, HBO accelerated tumor cell proliferation and advanced tumor progression in skin carcinogenesis by DMBA/TPA.