Pancreatic Cancer Vitamin C

377 gradually diminished and became undetectable after 1 year.

Pancreatic cancer vitamin c. In a small study of 14 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer iv vitamin c was given along with chemotherapy and targeted therapy five patients did not complete the treatment because the tumor continued to grow during treatment. The use of high dose intravenous vitamin c is now being studied for several solid tumors including pancreatic cancer explains gastrointestinal oncologist manish shah m d director of the gastrointestinal oncology program at weill cornell medicine new york. It is designed to provide information about if high dose ascorbate vitamin c increases survival for pancreatic cancer patients. Pancreatic adenocarcinoma cancer of head of the pancreas vitamin c.

And his primary tumor decreased in size but did. Recently an expert panel convened by the word cancer research fund and the american institute for cancer research concluded that the evidence for a beneficial effect of fruit against pancreatic cancer was limited and inconsistent and the evidence for vegetable and vitamin c was judged as limited no conclusion on the contrary a more recent meta analysis of 17 observational studies 13. When taken by iv infusion vitamin c can reach higher levels in the blood than when the same amount is taken by mouth. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma pda accounts for the vast majority of advanced pancreatic cancer cases and carries an expected 5 year survival rate of less than 6 1 standard therapies for unresectable or metastatic pancreatic cancer currently consist of gemcitabine based regimens combination therapies such as folfirinox with or without radiation and newer agents such as.

Given the fact that cancer patients were only treated with vitamin c orally in the mayo clinic studies the studies do not disprove high dose vitamin c s efficacy as a cancer treatment. According to the american cancer society pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the united states in 2013 1. Iv vitamin c and pancreatic cancer drisko et al. Some studies of iv high dose vitamin c in patients with cancer have shown improved quality of life as well as fewer side effects.

Patients had very few side effects from the vitamin c treatment. The nine patients who completed the treatment had stable disease as shown by imaging studies. He is leading a vitamin c trial for participants with resectable or metastatic solid tumor malignancies. Pancreatic cancer is considered one of the most aggressive cancer types.

This new knowledge has rekindled interest and spurred new research into the clinical potential of vitamin c. The hypothesis is that vitamin c is well tolerated and increases cancer treatment effectiveness lengthening survival time for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. A new study finds that high dose vitamin c can curb the growth of cancer cells with the kras mutation which is found in nearly all pancreatic cancers.