A new report suggests that high dosage of Vitamin C is capable of boosting the cancer killing effect of chemotherapy. The researchers tested this procedure on mice and came away with a big smile on their faces. If given by injection, Vitamin C could become a low-cost treatment for ovarian and other cancers, according to researchers at the University of Kansas.
The report, which was published in Science Translational Medicine, highlights the results of tests that were done on patients in the advanced stages of ovarian cancer and on lab mice. Vitamin C was injected into human ovarian cancer cells in the lab, into mice, as well as the cancer patients. The study shows that 27 patients who were diagnosed with stage 3 or stage 4 ovarian cancer, showed fewer negative side-effects after being injected with high doses of Vitamin C along with chemotherapy.
Furthermore, researchers found out that Vitamin C is capable of killing cancer cells without harming healthy cells in any way.
"Patients are looking for safe and low-cost choices in their management of cancer," co-researcher Dr. Jeanne Drisko said. "Intravenous vitamin C has that potential based on our basic science research and early clinical data."
It is understood that Vitamin C was used as an unorthodox cancer treatment in the early treatment of the disease. It was first done by chemist Linus Pauling in the 1970s; however, trials where Vitamin C was taken by mouth was ineffective, and as such it was seen as a failure.
Things have changed now, however, as science has shown that while taken Vitamin C orally does not help with cancer, a simple injection will do the job just fine.
The reason why Vitamin C does not work to help kill cancer when taken by mouth is because the body quickly excretes it. However, when taken by injection, Vitamin C is able to slow or stop the growth of cancerous cells in the body.
"Because vitamin C has no patent potential, its development will not be supported by pharmaceutical companies," said lead researcher Qi Chen to the BBC. "We believe that the time has arrived for research agencies to vigorously support thoughtful and meticulous clinical trials with intravenous vitamin C."
However, not everyone share the view that Vitamin C is capable of becoming the miracle cancer cure. Some researchers believe that a large scale clinical trial must be done before coming to a conclusion on the matter. It would address the limitations of the procedure, along with answering several questions.
