Although DMSO is not known to cure cancer, it is true hydroxyl free radicals are present in cancer and in atherosclerosis. Hydroxyl radicals also are known to be produced in lipid peroxidation, which is thought to be the source of many degenerative diseases. DMSO substitutes for water and moves rapidly through cell membranes. This ability probably is what makes DMSO so unique as to be an entirely new therapeutic principle. DMSO changes the water structure within the cell.
Water exists in two basic structures, one more highly organized and one less organized.
It may be that DMSO shifts the equilibrium between these two states of water toward the more organized form and thus speeds up the living processes of the cell, allowing healing to happen in a much accelerated fashion. The problem with DMSO is that it is so versatile and is such good treatment for so many conditions, it has fallen into the snake oil trap. It is too good to be believed. In the Old West, peddlers of snake oil would come to town and lecture the local folks on snake oil. These con artists would sell a load of snake oil and then hit the road, never to be seen again.