Cancer and Antioxidants

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With or without the knowledge of their doctor, research shows that 23 percent of cancer patients take antioxidants. The use of antioxidants as an adjunct to conventional or as an integral part of alternative cancer therapy is an area of intense research. Many questions are unanswered, although we know today much more than we ever have in the past.

Physicians specializing in nutritional and ortho-molecular medicine have, for decades, successfully employed a carefully planned protocol of natural micronutrients and antioxidants in the right dosage at the right time to reverse cancer in its early stages, and to deter cancer metastasis in advance stages. This is well before the antioxidant was accepted by mainstream medicine.

For safety concern, all antioxidants and micronutrients used in any anti-tumor protocol must meet all of the following criteria:

a. There must be science to justify the use of the antioxidant objectively.
b. Some form of mechanism of action must be known.
c. The antioxidant cannot be toxic to the body.
e. The antioxidant should not interfere with chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

Should Antioxidants be used in cancer patients?

This question can best be answered by reviewing in detail the history and experimental designs of studies on antioxidants in a cancer setting.

In earlier studies, researchers drew the conclusion that antioxidants should not be used because antioxidants protect cancer cells during chemotherapy. This hypothesis was based on experimental designs where cancer cells were given a single low dose micronutrient (like 65 mg. of vitamin C) just before the commencement of a series of conventional chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Cancer cells exposed to a single low dose micronutrient showed resistance to chemo and radiological therapeutic agent. It is extrapolated from this experimental observation that antioxidants will protect all cancer cells against conventional therapy and therefore should not be used. This conclusion is flawed in two ways: it assumes that cancer cell react the same to low dose as well as high dose antioxidant therapy. Secondly, it assumes that only one dose of antioxidant is given, while in real life, antioxidants as well as chemotherapies are usually given in series.

More recent studies using antioxidants in the appropriate high and repeated doses showed that they actually improve the efficacy of tumor response to chemotherapy and radiological therapy. This is the total opposite of the earlier researches mentioned above. These later studies showed that antioxidants at high doses selectively inhibit the growth of cancer cells without affecting the normal cells. This hypothesis is now well tested in many cell cultures and in clinical trials and is widely accepted by nutritionally minded physicians.

Let us look at these researches more closely. Studies have shown that a single low dose vitamin C or E micronutrient can stimulate growth of normal cells and some cancer cells. In the famous beta-carotene trial, where low dose beta-carotene is given to heavy smokers (whose body's cells are exposed from free radical damage and oxidative stress from the cigarette smoke and therefore cells are pre-cancerous), it is demonstrated that in fact, low dose beta-carotene increase the incidence of lung cancer. This is totally consistent with the fact that both cancer and normal cells strive in an environment of a low dose antioxidant that is beneficial for all cell types.

Normal and cancer cells respond in the same way to low dose antioxidant therapy because both cell types require antioxidants in low doses for optimum function. In an environment of high dose of antioxidants, however, the picture is quite different. Normal cells have a mechanism to protect themselves when exposed to high doses of antioxidants while cancer cells do not. In other words, cancer cells have not yet adapted to the new insult and they suffer damage from the antioxidants. High dose antioxidants therefore selectively are toxic to cancer cells but not to normal cells.

Recent evidences shown that radiotherapy and chemotherapy often harm DNA to a minor extent, which causes the cells to undergo apoptosis rather than necrosis. High dose antioxidants stimulate apoptotic pathway and therefore potentially have a synergistic effect with radiation or chemotherapy. Studies have showed that a cancer cell's defense mechanism may be impaired, making tumor cells unable to use the extra high dose antioxidant in a repair capacity. Supplying extra antioxidants through nutritional support will allow the cell to go thru a self-repair process. Most human tumor cell lines studies are low in an enzyme call catalase by 10-100 times compare to normal cells. Vitamin C administration to these cells would cause a build up of hydrogen peroxide, which leads to cell death. The cytotoxic effects of vitamin C were eliminated by addition of catalase to the cell culture.

It is clear now that repeated high dosage of antioxidants selectively kill cancer cell while sparing normal cells.

Attention

Because of tremendous individual variation, the use of nutritionals should therefore be personalized for your body. One person's nutrient can be another person's toxin. If you have a specific health concern and wish my personalized nutritional recommendation, write to me by clicking here.

What is the optimum dose for each nutrient to use for each stage of the disease? Unfortunately, there is no standard reference established today, as research in this field is only possible since the mid 1970s with the advent of modern computerized technology and is still in its infancy stage. Those in the forefront of nutritional and alternative cancer therapy research have a general idea of what the therapeutic ranges should be, and these ranges are established largely based on clinical experience.

It is important to make a distinction between low dose and high dose micronutrient therapy. Low dose generally reflect that established by the RDA. High dose is defined as the dose that causes cancer cells die but not that of normal cell.

The low and high dose for the majority of micronutrients are not known, with the exception of a few well studied ones such as vitamin C. Over 5,000 studies have been conducted on vitamin C, and here is the general parameter on a daily intake basis:

· Prevention of scurvy - 35 mg
· Low Dose - Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) - 80 mg
· General well being: 100-300 mg
· Anti-aging Dose: 300 - 2,000 mg
· High Dose - 2,000 - 10,000 mg (where cancer cells are killed and normal cells are spared)
· Very High Dose - for Active cancer treatment alone or as adjunct to conventional treatment: 5 gram to 50 grams (by mouth and IV)
· Toxic Dose - where cancer calls and normal cells are both killed. There is no established toxic dose.

What is clear is that the amount needed is case specific and stage specific. For example, the dosage required to maintain remission is lower than that used to treat active and growing tumors, but significantly higher than that used to prevent cancer or for simple wellbeing.

Current evidence supports:

· Antioxidants in low dose protect normal cells against the insult of radiotherapy and chemotherapy - that is universally agreed.

· Different cell types react differently to different nutrients. Melanoma cell is very sensitive to vitamin C but not parotid carcinoma. The reverse is true for beta-carotene. Differential response depends on the dose and the type of cancer cell.

· Specific combinations of high dose micronutrients should be use at least 48 hours before conventional chemotherapy or radiotherapy to protect normal cell, enhance the chemo and radio therapeutic agent during each day of active treatment and during remission.

· Do not give single low dose micronutrient before, during, or after conventional therapy as it enhances normal and cancer cell growth. If you only give one low dose and low dose, it does not help. Low dose of antioxidant alone can stimulate cancer cells. This is counterproductive. Combination of micronutrients in low dose also has the similar effect. This has been demonstrated in melanoma cells exposed to RDA levels of low dose vitamin C and E.

· Dietary antioxidants in high doses will enhance chemotherapy and radiotherapy agents, if given in series on a daily basis during the course of chemo and radiotherapy. Do not give low dose antioxidants before chemo or radiotherapy, which has repeatedly demonstrated to protect cancer cells. Vitamin C and E markedly enhance the effect of the chemotherapeutic agent 5 FU.

· Some nutrients augment the effect of chemotherapeutic agents. Studies have shown that high dose of vitamin C, beta-carotene, and vitamin E succinate causes a 50 percent reduction in melanoma cell growth, while there is no effect on normal cells. In selected case such as colon cancer, vitamin E has been shown to be more effective than 5FU in reducing cancer cell based on laboratory animal models. Antioxidants also increase the effect of hyperthermia without affecting the normal cell.

Single Nutrient or Nutritional cocktail?

Several schools of thought are present within the use of micronutrients. Some researchers favor the use of selected single micronutrient to attack cancer cells, while others prefer a cocktail approach, using a myriad of micronutrients, each in much lower (but still higher than RDA doses) to accomplish the same purpose.

Since many antioxidants in high dose have been shown to have anti-tumor properties, their judicious use in an anti-cancer nutritional cocktail has been extensively studied in recent years. In an open trial of combination antioxidant treatment along with chemotherapy and radiation therapy in patients with small-cell lung cancer, patients taking at least 15,000 IU vitamin A, 10,000 IU beta-carotene, 300 IU alpha-tocopherol, 2 gram of vitamin C, and 800 mcg of selenium were able to tolerate chemotherapy and radiation well. In addition, their survival at the end of 2 years was greater than that of historical controls (>33% to <15%), with 44 percent still living at the end of the study (mean survival time for survivors = 32 months)

Most nutritionally oriented physicians favor the use of a properly blended nutritional cocktail.

Which Antioxidants to AVOID?

When cancer cells are laced with over expression of and antioxidant called Super Oxide Dismutase (SOD), they become resistant to oxidation. Do not give exogenous SOD use with radiotherapy because mitotic cells (the most sensitive to chemo therapy) has the lowest level of SOD. When you increase the level of SOD, the cell becomes resistant.

The use of N-acetylcysteine (NAC), tangeretin, and flavonoids in therapeutic dosages should be avoided during active chemotherapy or radiotherapy sessions. NAC reduces the effectiveness of doxorubicin, flavonoids with tamoxifen, and beta-carotene with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). Dosages used to demonstrate such interaction is in the high therapeutic doses. The nature of this interaction is not clear. Non-therapeutic doses of nutritional cocktails, such as those used in normal well-being, pose no side effect when taken by those in active chemotherapy or radiotherapy, but in fact will alleviate some of the symptoms associated with these standard treatment. When the active chemotherapy or radiotherapy is finished, an aggressive cancer remission protocol with optimum doses of nutritional supplementation should be considered.

Important Cancer Antioxidants

The following is a list of common antioxidants used in cancer programs. They should be part of a complete antioxidant, vitamin, mineral, and enzymatic program. These are not to be viewed as single micronutrients but instead as an important part of an overall antioxidant program consisting often of over 50 different nutrients for the simple reason that different antioxidants works at different parts of the cell.

This is not a complete list, and not all antioxidants are necessary for each person. Selecting the appropriate nutrients and the right dosage is best left to a nutritionally oriented physician for maximum effectiveness. Blindly mixing and matching without professional help at these dosages are NOT recommended. The dosages reflect a range and not specific amounts. The exact amount varies with each person.