Long-term survival in patients with primary malignant brain tumors after postoperative home hydrogen inhalation: Three case reports
Xu KC, Kong XF, Qian W, Liang B, Li DG, Korpan NN. · World Journal of Clinical Cases. 2026;14(20):121466.
What kind of evidence is this?
Human
Retrospective descriptive report of three uncontrolled cases
Brain tumors — glioma and glioblastoma
Inhaled H₂
Not reported in this record.
Not reported in this record.
Methods at a glance
Three adults after conventional treatment for cerebellar medulloblastoma, thalamic glioblastoma or anaplastic oligoastrocytoma.
3 patients: two women aged 38 and 34 years and one man aged 56 years.
Daily use continued for years. Reported overall survival was 52, 38 and 93 months; case 3 had 80 months from the start of inhalation.
Daily long-term home inhalation after surgery and radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy. Sessions lasted 4–6 hours/day in cases 1 and 3 and 5–10 hours/day in case 2; case 3 initially continued temozolomide and bevacizumab for nine months after inhalation began.
Brown's gas / oxyhydrogen — H₂ and O₂ were co-delivered, not H₂ alone.
The source reports 66.6% H₂ and 33.4% O₂ at 3 L/min total flow, described equivalently as 2 L H₂ plus 1 L O₂ per minute.
2,000 mL/min H₂.
1,000 mL/min O₂ co-delivered; approximately 33.4% of the reported 3 L/min mixture.
No control group. Outcomes were interpreted against each patient's prior course and published prognosis.
Outcomes and reported result
Overall survival, serial brain MRI, neurological symptoms, seizures, independence and Karnofsky Performance Status.
The authors report no recurrence in cases 1 and 2, progressive radiological regression in case 3, and Karnofsky scores of 100, 100 and at least 80. These observations occurred after heterogeneous multimodal cancer treatment and cannot establish that hydrogen caused the outcomes.
The complete open publisher article was checked for all three histories, conventional treatments, H₂/O₂ composition and flows, follow-up, outcomes, consent and conflict statement.
A reported association, difference or mechanism is not automatically a clinical benefit. Null findings, outcome type, study design and precision all matter.
Cautions and applicability
Three selected uncontrolled cases with different tumor types, prognoses and conventional treatments. Survival comparisons with historical expectations are especially vulnerable to selection, immortal-time and attribution bias. Case 3 received concurrent temozolomide and bevacizumab for nine months after inhalation began. The report cannot demonstrate efficacy or replace standard oncologic care.
Only the three reported patients; hypothesis-generating case evidence, not a clinical treatment estimate.
Not reported in this record.
Not reported in this record.
Not reported in this record.
No single-study GRADE certainty rating is assigned. Certainty is assessed by important outcome across a complete eligible evidence set, not by attaching a final grade to one source.
Sources and record status
DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.121466 · DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.121466
Open-access full article from the journal publisher.
World Journal of Clinical Cases publisher full article; full-text extraction checked 8 August 2026.
2026-08-10