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Fighting cancer High vitamin C dosages killed cancer cells
Vitamin C actually has a dubious effect in the treatment of cancer. Researchers have now discovered that the way Vitamin C was used often seems to guarantee failure. The experts now administered extremely high doses of vitamin C intravenously. This form of treatment appears to improve treatment success in cancer.
Researchers at the University of Iowa found in one study that intravenous administration of high doses of vitamin C can help treat cancer. The doctors published a press release on the results of their study.
Certain fruits contain a lot of vitamin C. Vitamin C is known to be healthy for the human body. Researchers found that extremely high intravenous doses of vitamin C can help treat certain cancers. (Image: arinahabich - fotolia) Intravenous intake of vitamin C leads to a level 100 to 500 times higher
For most therapies with Vitamin C, the substance is administered orally. Researchers found that intravenous intake of vitamin C resulted in 100 to 500 times higher levels of vitamin C in the blood compared to oral intake. This effect is due to the fact that the vitamin C bypasses the normal intestinal metabolism and the elimination channels, the experts explain. The very high concentration of vitamin C in the blood is crucial to the ability of the vitamin to attack the cancer cells.
Vitamin C can kill cancer cells in extremely high concentrations
In extremely high concentrations (in the millimolar range), vitamin C can selectively kill cancer cells in experiments on mice, say the scientists. Normal cells are not affected by this effect. Clinics and hospitals are now testing this approach in clinical trials for pancreatic cancer and lung cancer. The treatment combines high-dose, intravenous vitamin C with standard chemotherapy or radiation, the researchers add.
Performs treatment with vitamin C to improved survival?
Previous phase 1 studies have already shown that this treatment is safe and well tolerated. The current, larger studies are now aimed at determining whether this type of treatment leads to an increased survival rate, explain the doctors.
Cancer cells are susceptible to hydrogen peroxide
Vitamin C breaks down very easily. This produces hydrogen peroxide, which can damage tissue and DNA, the researchers say. Tumor cells are much less able to remove the harmful hydrogen peroxide than do normal cells. So, cancer cells are much more prone to damage and death from high levels of hydrogen peroxide, explains Professor Garry Buettner of the University of Iowa.
Normal cells have different ways to break down hydrogen peroxide
This explains why the very high levels of vitamin C in our clinical trials do not affect normal tissue, but only harm the tumor tissue, explains the expert. Normal cells have several ways to remove hydrogen peroxide. They keep it at very low levels, so no damage occurs, scientists say.
Catalase is the central way to remove hydrogen peroxide
The new study shows that an enzyme called catalase is the key way to remove hydrogen peroxide by decomposing vitamin C. Cells with lower levels of catalase activity were more susceptible to damage and death when exposed to high levels of vitamin C, the researchers explain.
Which types of cancer are particularly susceptible to vitamin C therapy?
Professor Buettner says that this basic information could help improve therapies by including high-dose vitamin C in the treatment regimen. Our findings suggest that low-catalase cancer is likely to be most responsive to high-dose vitamin C treatment, the expert explains. On the other hand, cancer with relatively high levels of catalase will be the least responsive to this type of treatment. A future goal of the research is to develop methods for measuring catalase in tumors. (As)