ABSTRACT
Ozone (O3) gas is the triatomic state of oxygen and it is used as a disinfection agent due to its strong oxidizing effect, since its discovery in the mid-nineteenth century. Ozone therapy is also an alternative therapeutic approach for some diseases like circulatory disorders, AIDS, asthma, cardiovascular diseases, and certain types of cancer by increasing the oxygen levels in the blood by external addition of ozone to the body. In this study, the therapeutic potential of ozone therapy was examined by inhibiting the growth of breast cancer cells in a dose-dependent procedure. Ozone concentrations varying from 5 to 20 âµg/ml were applied to the MDA-MB-231, human breast adenocarcinoma and HUVEC, human umbilical vein endothelium, cell lines, and MDA cells demonstrated an increased rate of death while its migration potential decreases. RT-PCR analysis showed mRNA expression levels of pro-apoptotic genes demonstrated higher folds in MDA cells after 10 âµg/ml treatment. In the same context, Annexin V/PI and cell cycle analysis also concluded that ozone therapy causes apoptotic cell death on breast tumor cells. The use of ozone therapy for cancer treatment requires further and extensive research. However, this research has shown that ozone therapy is a promising source for cancer treatment in a way by inhibiting the proliferation of breast tumor cells.
ABSTRACT
Although different prognostic indices for malignant gliomas have been developed, their validity outside of clinical trials has not been widely tested. The aim of this study was to determine whether the Medical Research Council (MRC) brain tumour prognostic index was able to stratify patients for survival managed in routine practice, and secondly to compare the results with our newly developed prognostic score which included tumour grade and only 3 prognostic groups. The MRC and the new prognostic index were calculated for a group of 119 adult patients with malignant glioma managed by surgical resection/biopsy and post-operative radiotherapy. For the MRC and new score, 6 and 3 prognostic groups were defined, respectively. For all patients median survival was 11 (2-66) months. The overall survival rate at 12 and 24 months were 43% and 18%, respectively. The MRC median and two-year survival rates were 14 months and 26% for a score of 1-10, 14 months and 27% for a score of 11-15, 13 months and 22% for a score of 16-20, 8 months and 10% for a score of 21-25, 8 months and 0% for those scoring 26-33. There was only one patient in the 34-38 group. For the new prognostic index, median and two-year survival rates were respectively 16 and 26%; 12 and 23%; 8 and 7% for the good, intermediate and poor prognostic groups. Both indices were significant factors for survival in univariate analysis (MRC index, p = 0.0089, new index p = 0.0002), but not in multivariate analysis. Both the MRC and our newly devised prognostic score were able to separate patients into good and poor prognostic groups, which may aid in treatment decisions, although there was less differentiation between the MRC groups especially over the first year. Both scores use routinely available factors. However, inclusion of tumour grade in the new score may be an advantage over the MRC index.
