(NaturalPath) A new study in Science Translational Medicine finds patients who received high doses of vitamin C intravenously in addition to chemotherapy treatments, may help kill cancer cells and reduce the symptoms of chemotherapy. The researchers out of University of Kansas Medical Center tested this approach in cells, animals, and humans to come to their conclusion.
Vitamin C has been a common alternative therapy for cancer, even when mainstream medicine did not find it effective in treating cancer. Only recently have studies shown that administering vitamin C intravenously can be effective. The study tested the therapy on 27 patients with stage 3 or 4 ovarian cancer. The study participants received both conventional chemotherapy and intravenous vitamin C. The patients were studied for a total of 5 years.
The senior author of the study, Qi Chen, explains: “What we’ve discovered is that, because of its pharmacokinetic differences, intravenous vitamin C, as opposed to oral vitamin C, kills some cancer cells without harming normal tissues.”
The study found that the toxic effects of chemotherapy were lessened in patients who were also given vitamin C. Using the two treatments in conjunction led to the most positive outcomes that should warrant further study.
Co-researcher Dr. Jeanne Drisko explains: “We now have a better understanding of vitamin C’s anti-cancer action, plus a clear safety profile, and biological and clinical plausibility with a firm foundation to proceed. Taken together, our data provide strong evidence to justify larger and robust clinical trials to definitively examine the benefit of adding vitamin C to conventional chemotherapy.”
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High-Dose Parenteral Ascorbate Enhanced Chemosensitivity of Ovarian Cancer and Reduced Toxicity of Chemotherapy, Qi Chen, Jeanne Drisko, et al., Sci Transl Med, published online 5 February 2014, DOI:10.1126/scitranslmed.3007154, Abstract.