Effects of Ozone Treatment on Quality of Life and Toxicity in Symptomatic Cancer Survivors

Background: why treatment side effects persist after cancer

As cancer survival rates continue to improve, a growing number of people are living with the long-term adverse effects of the treatments that saved them. These persistent side effects are frequently linked to chronic oxidative stress, inflammation and reduced blood supply to affected tissue, and they can have a substantial impact on day-to-day wellbeing.

This study set out to assess whether ozone treatment could improve health-related quality of life and reduce the grade of toxicity in cancer survivors experiencing persistent or treatment-resistant side effects.

Study design: 26 cancer survivors, EQ-5D-5L and CTCAE v5.0

Twenty-six cancer survivors were assessed before and after ozone treatment. Quality of life was measured using the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire, and the severity of side effects was graded using the National Cancer Institute's Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE version 5.0).

The study was conducted at Hospital Universitario de Gran Canaria Dr. Negrín in Spain and was approved by the Provincial Research Ethics Committee of Las Palmas.

Findings: improved quality of life and reduced treatment toxicity

Following treatment, the researchers recorded a statistically significant improvement in the overall EQ-5D-5L index (p < 0.001).

Every one of the five dimensions assessed - mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain and discomfort, and anxiety and depression - improved significantly (p < 0.05), as did patients' own visual-analogue rating of their general health. The graded severity of treatment-related toxicity also fell significantly (p < 0.001).

What the authors concluded

The authors conclude that in cancer survivors carrying chronic side effects of cancer treatment, ozone treatment can reduce the grade of toxicity and improve health-related quality of life, and that these preliminary results merit further research.

They note the scarcity of alternative options available to many of these patients, and confirm that randomised controlled trials are already under way - including studies in chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (NCT04299893) and in chronic pelvic radiation-induced toxicity (EudraCT 2022-000320-37).

Limitations of this study

This was a preliminary study with a small sample of 26 patients and no control group. The authors themselves call for randomised controlled trials to confirm the findings.

This study concerns the management of side effects arising from cancer treatment. It does not examine ozone as a treatment for cancer itself. Ozone therapy is a complementary approach and should always be discussed with your oncology team.

The paper is open access under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence.