Vitamin C and Cancer

September 28, 2005

New Study Confirms Vitamin C Effective As Cancer Treatment

High-dose vitamin C has proven highly effective in treating cancer, according to research published by the US National Academy of Science. This confirms studies in the 1970s by the Nobel prize winner Dr Linus Pauling, who gave 100 terminally ill cancer patients 10 grams (10,000mg) of vitamin C each day, the equivalent of 220 oranges, and compared their outcome with 1,000 cancer patients given conventional therapy. The survival rate was five times higher in those taking vitamin C and while all of the 1,000 “control patients” died, 13 of the vitamin C patients were still alive ten years later, with 12 apparently free from cancer. In the 1990’s Drs Murata and Morishige of Saga University in Japan showed that cancer patients on 5 to 30grams of vitamin C lived 6 times longer than those on 4 grams or less, while those suffering from cancer of the uterus lived 15 times longer on vitamin C therapy.

However, Pauling’s findings were discredited, largely due to an apparent ‘replication’ of their study by the Mayo Clinic in the US . There were, however, two major differences between the original trial and that of the Mayo Clinic. The ‘terminal’ patients in the original trial kept taking vitamin C every day, while those in the Mayo Clinic trial stopped after an average of 75 days. Also, in Pauling’s study patients were given a combination of oral and intravenous vitamin C, while in the Mayo Clinic study only oral vitamin C was used.

In a comprehensive study of the effects of intravenous vitamin C by researchers from the US National Institutes of Health, led by Dr Qi Chen, intravenous vitamin C has proven to cause cancer cell death across a wide range of cancers including lymphoma, breast, lung, colon, kidney and skin (melanomas) in both animal and human cancer cells. This high dose vitamin C led to the formation of hydrogen peroxide, a chemical that can kill cancer cells. Normal cells were not affected by vitamin C at any concentration. This research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science this week, proves that intravenous vitamin C is a potentially highly effective and inexpensive non-toxic form of chemotherapy.

This may also explain why high dietary intakes of vitamin C are associated with lower risk for cancer. In a comprehensive review of over 100 studies, author Dr Gladys Block, formerly with the National Cancer Institute, concludes, “Approximately 90 epidemiologic studies have examined the role of vitamin C or vitamin-C-rich foods in cancer prevention, and the vast majority have found statistically significant protective effects. Evidence is strong for cancers of the oesophagus, oral cavity, stomach and pancreas. There is also substantial evidence of a protective effect in cancers of the cervix, rectum and breast. Even in lung cancer there is recent evidence of a role for vitamin C.”

My advice for cancer patients is to find a doctor who can administer intravenous vitamin C and, failing that, supplement 10 to 20 grams diluted in half water and juice, up to ‘bowel tolerance’ level meaning below the amount that causes loose bowels, under the supervision of a nutritional therapist. For the prevention of cancer eating as much fruit and vegetables as possible and supplementing 1 gram twice a day, is a sensible precaution. The best foods for vitamin C are broccoli, peppers, berries and citrus fruit.

Wishing you the best of health,

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