The Utility of Medical Ozone as Integrative Tool in The Treatment of Gastric Cancer

The use of medical ozone in clinical practice showed numerous benefits in the treatment of various diseases, mainly by modulating the immune system and restoring the oxidant/antioxidant balance. Ozone treatment contributes to reducing inflammatory responses and increasing the production of antioxidant enzymes, thus improving the clinical outcome in a wide range of ailments. Many publications in the last decades showed a positive effect on cancer cells. Furthermore, they confirmed the in vivo and in vitro role of ozone in inducing direct damage to cancer cells, being harmless to non-cancerous cells. In vitro, animal studies and isolated clinical reports suggest the role of medical ozone as an adjunctive treatment in cancer patients by directly potentiating the action of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. In vivo studies have been mainly devoted to the systemic application of low ozone-doses. Randomized controlled clinical trials are in progress with the use of different interventional approaches: specific arterial embolization, intratumoral injection and catheterization. Despite the positive biological effects of ozone, preclinical investigations are needed not only testing more cancer cell lines, but also testing different doses of ozone. Randomized clinical trials are needed to confirm the potential utility of this integrative approach in chemotherapy and radiotherapy.