High doses of vitamin C could help keep cancer at bay
High doses of vitamin C may help to boost chemotherapy’s ability to kill cancer cells, according to new research.
Given by injection, it could be a potentially safe, effective and low-cost treatment for ovarian and other cancers, says the US scientists from University of Kansas.
In a study of 27 patients newly diagnosed with stage 3 or 4 ovarian cacner, researchers found that patients who were injected with a high dose of vitamin C, along with their chemotherapy, experienced fewer negative side effects from their treatment.
Reporting in Science Translational Medicine, they call for large-scale government clinical trials.
They also found that vitamin C can help to kill cancer cells without harming healthy cells. Vitamin C has long been used as an alternative therapy for cancer.
Co-researcher Dr Jeanne Drisko told BBC News that there was growing interest in the use of vitamin C by oncologists.
"Patients are looking for safe and low-cost choices in their management of cancer," said.
"Intravenous vitamin C has that potential based on our basic science research and early clinical data."
However, pharmaceutical companies are unlikely to run further clinical trials as vitamins cannot be patented.
"Because vitamin C has no patent potential, its development will not be supported by pharmaceutical companies," lead researcher Qi Chen told BBC News.