Skip to main content
An official website of the United States government
Government Funding Lapse
Because of a lapse in government funding, the information on this website may not be up to date, transactions submitted via the website may not be processed, and the agency may not be able to respond to inquiries until appropriations are enacted.

The NIH Clinical Center (the research hospital of NIH) is open. For more details about its operating status, please visit cc.nih.gov.

Updates regarding government operating status and resumption of normal operations can be found at opm.gov.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy to Improve Engraftment Following Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cell Transplantation in Patients with Blood and Lymph Node Cancer

Trial Status: active

This phase II trial studies whether hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy works to improve engraftment following umbilical cord blood (UCB) transplantation in patients with blood or lymph node cancer. UCB transplant is a type of stem cell transplant that involves the transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells collected from the umbilical cord or placenta. It is used to treat cancer of the blood or lymph nodes. UCB transplant has advantages over other types of transplants such as ease of obtaining the umbilical cord blood, absence of donor risks, reduced risks of contagious infections, and the availability for immediate use. However, UCB as a graft source for a bone marrow transplant has drawbacks related to the limited cell dose available for transplant and defects in homing. Homing is the process of UCB donor stem cell lodging in the recipient’s bone marrow. If the homing is not efficient it could delay the re-population of the stem cells (or engraftment), possibly lead to engraftment failure, and delay the rebuilding of the immune system after transplant. This could, in turn, provide a higher risk of infection after the UCB transplant. There is a specific hormone which tells stem cells in the bone marrow to make more red blood cells. This hormone (called erythropoietin or EPO) is increased when blood oxygen levels are low. When the EPO is increased, it might impair the bone marrow homing process of the transplant. HBO therapy involves breathing 100% pure oxygen while in a sealed chamber that has been pressurized at two and a half times the normal atmospheric pressure. Providing 100% pure oxygen through HBO therapy before the transplant may decrease EPO and improve engraftment following UCB transplantation in patients with blood or lymph node cancer.