Information On Vitamin C For Cancer

Vitamin C is a nutrient that helps to support your immune system and is required for more than 300 metabolic functions in your body. Vitamin C is considered an essential nutrient -- you must obtain it through diet or supplementation because your body cannot manufacture it. Good dietary sources of vitamin C include berries, citrus fruit and green vegetables. Some studies suggest that vitamin C may be an effective anti-cancer aid, and it is safe when consumed through food. However, the use of vitamin C supplements for the treatment of cancer is controversial. You should talk to your doctor before supplementing with it.

Dietary Vitamin C and Cancer

According to the March 2001 edition of the "Lancet" journal, dietary vitamin C appears to decrease the risk for developing cancer. Researchers conducted a population study in men and women that suggested that increasing your intake of fruits and/or vegetables by just one serving daily may be enough to raise plasma vitamin C levels. The rise in plasma vitamin C was inversely related to the development of cancer. In addition, the elevated plasma vitamin C levels appeared to reduce the risk of mortality in men with cancer. Women, however, did not experience a reduced cancer-related mortality rate. The exact reason for this is unknown; however, researchers believe it may be due to the fact that men tend to have a lower dietary intake of antioxidants and may therefore benefit more from the increase in vitamin C.

Potential Benefits of Vitamin C Supplements

Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant that helps to protect your cells and DNA by preventing free-radical-induced damage to them. There appear to be pros and cons when it comes to taking antioxidant supplements such as vitamin C during radiation therapy, which is one of the major treatment modalities in the management of cancer. The April 2002 edition of "Cancer Treatment Reviews" states that high doses of vitamin C may improve the efficacy of radiation therapy by increasing the response of tumors to radiation. Some researchers believe that vitamin C may also protect normal healthy cells from being destroyed by radiation and thereby help to decrease some of the toxic side effects associated with radiation therapy. In addition, preliminary research suggests that high doses of vitamin C given intravenously might have a beneficial effect on survival rate in patients with terminal cancer.

Potential Dangers of Vitamin C Supplements

Other researchers speculate that vitamin C supplements should not be taken during radiation because they would not only protect the healthy cells, but may also simultaneously protect cancer cells from being destroyed by radiation. In addition, preliminary evidence suggests that vitamin C might reduce the effectiveness of some chemotherapy drugs, including doxorubicin, cisplatin, vincristine, methotrexate and imatinib. "Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database" states that high doses of oral vitamin C, of 10 g daily, in patients with advanced cancer does not appear to improve survival or decrease disease progression.

Considerations

Vitamin C supplements may interact with numerous drugs and cause unwanted side effects such as nausea, vomiting, heartburn, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Due to conflicting results from clinical research, the use of high-dose vitamin C supplements as an anti-cancer aid remains controversial, and increasing your dietary intake may be a safer option.