Navigation Links
Vitamin C supplements may reduce benefit from wide range of anti-cancer drugs
Date:9/30/2008

PHILADELPHIA In pre-clinical studies, vitamin C appears to substantially reduce the effectiveness of anticancer drugs, say researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

These new findings, published in the October 1 issue of Cancer Research, a publication of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR), came from studying laboratory cancer cells and mice, but the study's authors say the same mechanism may affect patient outcomes, although they add this premise needs to be tested.

"The use of vitamin C supplements could have the potential to reduce the ability of patients to respond to therapy," said Heaney, an Associate Attending Physician at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Use of vitamin C during cancer treatment has been controversial. Some studies have suggested that because vitamin C is an antioxidant it might be beneficial to cancer patients. But some classes of chemotherapy drugs produce "oxygen free radicals," unpaired oxygen molecules that can fatally react with other molecules in a cell, forcing cell death. In this theory, vitamin C could sop up the radicals, keeping the cancer cell alive despite chemotherapy treatment.

Heaney and his colleagues tested a wide variety of chemotherapy drugs those that produce reactive oxygen and those that work in other ways on cancer cells in the laboratory, that were pretreated with dehydroascorbic acid (DHA), the form that ascorbic acid (vitamin C) takes to enter cells.

They found to their surprise that every chemotherapy drug they tested which included targeted agents like Gleevec did not work as well if cells were pretreated with vitamin C, as they did on untreated cancer cells. In the cell culture experiments, 30 to 70 percent less cancer cells treated with vitamin C were killed depending on the drug tested.

They then checked these findings by implanting the cancer cells into mice, and again found that, in an animal model sy
'/>"/>

Contact: Jeremy Moore
Jeremy.moore@aacr.org
267-646-0557
American Association for Cancer Research
Source:Eurekalert

3

GOOD

Page: 1 2 3

Related biology news :

1. Low vitamin D during pregnancy linked to pre-eclampsia
2. Low vitamin D linked to higher risk of hip fracture
3. Vitamin E trials fatally flawed
4. Study shows vitamin C is essential for plant growth
5. Could vitamin D, a key milk nutrient, affect how you age?
6. Vitamin B-12 function may be diminished by excessive folate
7. Jefferson scientists studying the effects of high-dose vitamin C on non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients
8. New way to produce high-vitamin corn could improve nutrition in developing countries
9. Team finds an economical way to boost the vitamin A content of maize
10. Vitamin E may increase tuberculosis risk in male smokers with high vitamin C intake
11. Vitamin D and calcium influence cell death in the colon, researchers find
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
(Date:5/24/2013)... one French Quarter neighborhood of New Orleans to determine ... Hurley, PhD, Assistant Professor of Audiology at LSU Health ... LSUHSC doctor of audiology student, recommend that people use ... case study is published online in the current issue ... important part of an audiologist,s practice is aiding patients ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... honored more than 165 staff for their creation, ... annual Intellectual Property Commercialization Recognition & Rewards Program ... laboratory named materials scientist Jun Liu Inventor of ... that can store large amounts of energy, ease ... time it takes to charge cell phones, electric ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... Given the implications for the overall health, development, ... a primary role in ensuring that all students ... minutes per day of vigorous or moderate-intensity physical ... of Medicine. Recent estimates suggest that only ... guideline for promoting better health and development. ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Please do try this at home 2PNNL staff recognized for scientific accomplishments, moving technologies into the marketplace 2Schools should provide opportunities for 60 minutes of daily physical activity to all students 2Schools should provide opportunities for 60 minutes of daily physical activity to all students 3
... and diesel with plant-based bio fuels is crucial to curb climate ... and some of the methods result in bio fuels that are ... from the University of Copenhagen shows that it is possible to ... single drop. This promises cheaper, faster and above all safer development ...
... usually progresses in small steps, but on rare occasions, ... produces a ,great leap forward., An international team of ... Joseph Ecker, report one such leap in the July ... their mapping and early analyses of thousands of protein-to-protein ...
... 29, 2011Intravenous delivery of cold fluids to reduce body ... outcomes may not be as effective in children as ... in Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management , a ... article is available free online at www.liebertpub.com/ther ...
Cached Biology News:Computational chemistry shows the way to safer biofuels 2Scientists take a giant step for people -- with plants! 2Scientists take a giant step for people -- with plants! 3Scientists take a giant step for people -- with plants! 4
(Date:5/23/2013)... May 23, 2013  Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) ... blood stem cell banking and therapeutics, announced today that ... 16 Acorn Stairlifts Indy car driven by ... of the IZOD IndyCar 2013 season.   ... to support awareness of umbilical cord blood banking and ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... Calif. , May 23, 2013 ... a strategic alliance with DAK Renewable Research to ... corn oil yield. VG Energy is a majority ... Pink: VGLS). VG Energy,s exclusively licensed ... increase the oil yield in plants, possessing a ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... , May 23, 2013 BioTrends Research ... advisory firms for specialized biopharmaceutical issues, finds that, ... infectious disease specialists reported that in the past ... intentionally delaying treatment) in anticipation of the next ... months ago, when only 6 percent reported that ...
(Date:5/23/2013)... Md. , May 23, 2013 Northwest ... biotechnology company developing DCVax ® personalized immune therapies ... use its exhibit at this year,s American Society Of ... to highlight its leadership role in immune therapy.  ... The ASCO annual meeting is the pre-eminent conference focused ...
Breaking Biology Technology:StemCyte, Inc. Joins Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing As Associate Sponsor Of No. 16 IndyCar Program For James Jakes Beginning With The 97th Indianapolis 500 2StemCyte, Inc. Joins Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing As Associate Sponsor Of No. 16 IndyCar Program For James Jakes Beginning With The 97th Indianapolis 500 3VG Energy Enters into a Strategic Alliance with DAK Renewable Research for LipidMax Field Trials 2VG Energy Enters into a Strategic Alliance with DAK Renewable Research for LipidMax Field Trials 3The Majority of Physicians that Treat Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Have Begun "Warehousing" and Preparing Their HCV Patients for the Next Generation of HCV Treatments 2The Majority of Physicians that Treat Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Have Begun "Warehousing" and Preparing Their HCV Patients for the Next Generation of HCV Treatments 3NW Bio Exhibit at the Upcoming ASCO Meeting to Highlight its Leadership Role in Immune Therapy for Cancer 2NW Bio Exhibit at the Upcoming ASCO Meeting to Highlight its Leadership Role in Immune Therapy for Cancer 3
... sector is $45.8 billion, 180,007 jobs , ... North Carolina has invested more than $1 billion in its ... annual economic impact exceeds $45 billion, according to data released ... , Norris Tolson, president and CEO of ...
... N.J., Nov. 20 At a meeting of the Board,of ... a dividend of fifty cents($0.50) per share on the outstanding ... to stockholders of record at the close of business,on December ... is one of the world,s largest research-driven pharmaceutical and,health care ...
... a medical device company developing and marketing filtration products for therapeutic applications, infection control, ... , Recent Highlights and Events , ... Appointed James Scibetta Chairman of the Board of Directors , ... Submitted 510k for Mid-Dilution Hemodiafiltration products , ...
Cached Biology Technology:North Carolina's Biotechnology Investment Tops Billion-Dollar Mark; Battelle Study Quantifies Economic Dividends and Jobs 2North Carolina's Biotechnology Investment Tops Billion-Dollar Mark; Battelle Study Quantifies Economic Dividends and Jobs 3North Carolina's Biotechnology Investment Tops Billion-Dollar Mark; Battelle Study Quantifies Economic Dividends and Jobs 4North Carolina's Biotechnology Investment Tops Billion-Dollar Mark; Battelle Study Quantifies Economic Dividends and Jobs 5Nephros Provides Corporate Update 2Nephros Provides Corporate Update 3Nephros Provides Corporate Update 4Nephros Provides Corporate Update 5Nephros Provides Corporate Update 6Nephros Provides Corporate Update 7