Hydrogen–oxygen therapy can alleviate radiotherapy-induced hearing loss in patients with nasopharyngeal cancer

Abstract

Three patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma developed binaural secretory otitis media 12, 2, and 0.5 years after radiotherapy, respectively. The secretions subsided after conventional drug and drainage treatments, but hearing continued to deteriorate until severe loss was documented in both ears. After examination of the eardrum and tympanum, patients were enrolled in a clinical trial in the first half of 2019 (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03818347). After 0.5, 1 and 2 months of continuous hydrogen–oxygen therapy, our first three patients reported different levels of improvement in binaural hearing. This is the first report to show that, after treatment for nasopharyngeal carcinoma, hearing loss can be alleviated using hydrogen– oxygen therapy.