VitC and Cancer by Ralph Moss, PhD.....this is EXCELLENT newsletter for ALL...

[Guest guest]

Most everything he writes about is good for Lymies.....

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Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D. Weekly CancerDecisions.com

Newsletter #141 07/18/04

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THE MOSS REPORTS

For the past thirty years I have been studying and closely monitoring the

world of cancer treatment, sorting fact from fiction, and helping cancer

patients

and their families to understand and weigh the usefulness of the treatments

they have been offered.

The Moss Reports represent a comprehensive library of cancer guides. In them,

my years of experience in researching cancer treatments have been distilled

into a careful assessment of the worth and effectiveness of the conventional

and alternative treatments of over two hundred different kinds of cancer.

If you or someone you love has received a diagnosis of cancer, a Moss Report

can provide you with the key to understanding the best that conventional and

alternative medicine have to offer. You can order a Moss Report on your

specific cancer type by calling Diane at 1-800-980-1234 (814-238-3367 from

outside

the US), or by visiting our website: http://www.cancerdecisions.com

We look forward to helping you.

VITAMIN C AND CANCER: NEW DEVELOPMENTS

Vitamin C is in the news again. A study carried out by a research team from

the Harvard School of Public Health and published July 1 in the New England

Journal of Medicine (Fawzi, WW, 2004) showed that a multivitamin supplement that

included vitamin C significantly slowed the onset of AIDS and provided an

" effective, low-cost means of delaying the initiation of antiretroviral therapy

in

HIV-infected women. " The total cost of the treatment was estimated by the

researchers to be about $15 per year. Here is yet another demonstration of the

astonishing power of food supplements, particularly antioxidants such as vitamin

C, to promote human health.

I am often asked whether or not vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is also an

effective way of fighting cancer. I answer that while there is a growing body of

scientific evidence to suggest that vitamin C is useful in the prevention of

cancer, the jury is still out on its effectiveness as a cancer treatment.

However,

its low cost and astonishing lack of toxicity make it an extremely attractive

candidate for further testing.

Representative of the investigations that are currently under way concerning

vitamin C's role in the treatment of cancer is the work of Kedar N. Prasad,

PhD, a professor of radiology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences

Center, Denver. Prasad has demonstrated that vitamin C is capable of inhibiting

the growth of cancer cells in vitro. He advocates giving vitamin C and other

antioxidants to patients while they are undergoing conventional chemotherapy and

radiation. (I draw on his work in my book Antioxidants Against Cancer.)

Click or go here for more information on my book, Antioxidants Against

Cancer.

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Prasad's theory is that normal cells require only a minute, precisely

controlled amount of antioxidants in order to function. They reject any excess.

But

among other defects, malignant cells have lost the capacity to regulate their

uptake of antioxidants such as vitamin C and E. Antioxidants can therefore

accumulate in cancer tissue in levels that can lead to the breakdown and death

of

malignant cells (Prasad 2003).

The history of research into vitamin C as a cancer treatment is clouded with

controversy. In the 1970s, a ish physician Ewan Cameron, MD, teamed up

with Linus ing, PhD, to write a book, Cancer and Vitamin C, in which they

extolled the usefulness of vitamin C as a treatment for cancer. (ing had

previously published a book on vitamin C and the common cold.) Cancer and

Vitamin C became a bestseller and this fueled public demand for investigation of

the

role of vitamin C in cancer treatment.

ing was a world-famous chemist, a two-time Nobel laureate, with great

medical achievements to his record. But he was not a medical doctor, and this

raised the ire of some medical critics such as the self-proclaimed " quackbuster "

Victor Herbert, MD. However, the demand for a fair test of ing's thesis

could not be ignored indefinitely, and in time doctors at the Mayo Clinic,

Rochester, MN, undertook a clinical trial that was supposed to replicate Drs.

Cameron and ing's protocol.

In two often-cited papers, Moertel, MD and his Mayo colleagues

claimed that vitamin C had absolutely no beneficial effect when used in the

treatment of patients with advanced cancer, regardless of whether or not they

had

received prior chemotherapy (Creagan 1979 and Moertel 1985). Dr. Moertel was

called the " foremost professional demolition expert...of alternative cancer

treatments " (s 1991). Moertel's negative comments on the topic included

his

assertion that evaluating alternative treatments was a " waste of time and

money...a waste of patient hope " (Moertel 1989). His high-handed manner of

testing

vitamin C convinced proponents that they had been set up for inevitable defeat.

But the damage had been done, and vitamin C was marginalized as a cancer

treatment.

Tale of Two Trials

Is there a good scientific reason why vitamin C might have failed to show a

beneficial effect in the Mayo Clinic trials while succeeding in the hands of

its proponents? It now appears that there was. In the Mayo Clinic studies all

patients received either vitamin C tablets or an inert sugar pill. What was

widely overlooked at the time was that patients on the Cameron-ing protocol

were given vitamin C not only orally but also via intravenous injection.

A few practitioners—most notably Abram Hoffer, MD of , British

Columbia and Hugh Riordan, MD of the Center For the Improvement Of Human

Functioning

International in Wichita, Kansas— continue to use vitamin C intravenously at

doses of up to 100 grams – almost 4 ounces - per day. In fact, using high-dose

intravenous vitamin C has become a common procedure among CAM-oriented

doctors, although it is ignored by orthodox medicine – witness the fact that

in the

decade since 1994 the number of presentations on intravenous vitamin C at the

American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) convention has been exactly zero.

New NIH Data

Could the route of administering vitamin C make a significant difference?

Yes it could. New data shows that how one gives ascorbic acid has a big impact

on the amount that actually becomes physiologically available. An April, 2004

study by scientists at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) showed that

much more vitamin C gets taken up when it is given via the intravenous route

than when the vitamin is taken orally. The authors of the study include

Sebastian J. Padayatty, MD of the Molecular and Clinical Nutrition Section at

one of

the NIH institutes, and his chief, Mark A. Levine, MD. Both are highly

regarded figures in academic circles. Dr. Levine is a Harvard Medical School

graduate

who carried out the laboratory work that convinced the National Academy of

Science to increase of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamin C. (In

2000, the RDA for men was increased from 60 to 90 mg daily, and for women the

RDA was increased from 60 to 75 mg daily.)

In the Padayatty study, 17 healthy hospitalized volunteers were given either

oral or intravenous doses of vitamin C, and blood plasma levels were cal

culated for a dose range of 1 to 100 grams. The authors reported that " peak

plasma

vitamin C concentrations were higher after administration of intravenous doses

than after administration of oral doses…and the difference increased according

to dose. "

In fact, the blood concentration of Vitamin C when given intravenously was

6.6 times greater than when the same amount was given orally. However, this

hardly tells the full story. The maximum tolerated doses also differed

significantly according to whether the vitamin C was administered orally or

intravenously. The maximum tolerated oral dose was calculated to be three grams

every four

hours, but when the vitamin C was given intravenously the researchers found

they could give a 50 gram dose in the same period. Furthermore, plasma

concentrations up to sixty times greater could be achieved using the intravenous

route.

These NIH scientists observed that oral vitamin C " produces plasma

concentrations that are tightly controlled… Only intravenous administration of

vitamin C

produces high plasma and urine concentrations that might have antitumor

activity. " They conclude that " the efficacy of vitamin C treatment cannot be

judged

from clinical trials that use only oral dosing, " as the Mayo Clinic studies

most conspicuously did, and that " the role of vitamin C in cancer treatment

should be reevaluated " (Padayatti 2004). Coming from such prestigious government

scientists, publishing in the ls of Internal Medicine, I believe this is a

convincing (albeit belated) refutation of the poorly designed Mayo Clinic

studies.

It is never easy to arrange clinical trials, especially of an agent that has

long been in the public domain and from whose sale no super-profits can be

expected. The way the drug approval system works in the United States virtually

requires the enthusiastic support of sponsors with deep pockets (which almost

invariably means a pharmaceutical company) in order to see a new drug through

the long, involved and expensive process of drug approval. No non-toxic,

readily available agent has ever been approved by the Food and Drug

Administration

for the treatment of cancer. Vitamin C at retail sells for around five cents

per gram. The cost of even 100 grams prepared for intravenous use is still very

inexpensive compared to patented chemotherapy. I therefore don't think you

will find many drug companies lining up to test and market such a readily

available agent. And so the question of what vitamin C can do for patients—so

fascinating and promising—has remained in limbo.

However, things may be about to change. At a meeting of the American College

for the Advancement of Medicine (ACAM) in April, 2003, Jeanne A. Drisko, MD,

announced just such a clinical trial at her institution, the University of

Kansas Medical Center. Luckily, the Cancer Treatment Research Foundation (CTRF)

stepped forward to fund the Kansas City clinical trial. A randomized

controlled trial, with Dr. Drisko as principal investigator, is now underway at

the

University of Kansas Medical Center, evaluating the safety and efficacy of

antioxidants when added to chemotherapy in newly diagnosed ovarian cancer

(Drisko

2003).

In a recent letter, Dr. Drisko wrote: " This is a randomized study in newly

diagnosed ovarian cancer (Stage III or IV). The study subjects are randomized to

receive either first-line chemotherapy or first-line chemotherapy along with

high-dose antioxidants. The antioxidants are given both orally and

intravenously. If randomized to the antioxidant arm, patients receive daily oral

vitamins

A, C, E and carotenoids, and intravenous (IV) vitamin C 2 times per week for

12 months. We tailor the dose of the IV vitamin C to their plasma vitamin C

level - we try to get…the neoplastic cell kill dose, using Dr. Hugh Riordan's

protocol.

" At this plasma level, vitamin C is chemotoxic to the cancer cells and

appears to be non-toxic to healthy cells. But we are following white cell and

platelet counts and other markers for possible toxicity from the vitamin C. Most

patients need between 75 and 100 grams infused to get to that plasma level. We

can assure concerned oncologists that it preliminarily does not appear that the

high-dose antioxidants are interfering with the chemotherapy at this time.

" In ovarian cancer, " she continued, " the patients are usually treated with

chemotherapy during the first 5 to 6 months (6 cycles of carboplatin and

paclitaxel) so they are getting an additional 6 to 7 months of antioxidants past

the

chemo. This study is conducted under the oversight of the FDA with an

Investigative Drug (IND) number and has approval from the Human Subjects

Committee

(i.e., the institutional review board) of the University of Kansas Medical

Center. So far, we have 14 patients enrolled and are hoping to recruit 40. We

have

had 2 dropouts: 1 because she refused to adhere to the treatment requirements

and started smoking, and 1 because she was chemotherapy resistant to all

chemotherapy by drug assays " (Drisko 2004).

This trial is a very encouraging development. Dr. Drisko is a person with

credibility in both orthodox and CAM circles. She is thus in an ideal position

to

do a study that will be not only rigorous but entirely believable in its

conclusions.

As some of you know, I wrote the authorized biography of Albert

Szent-Gyorgyi, MD, PhD, who won the 1937 Nobel Prize for his discovery of

vitamin C. In

fact, it was he who named the vitamin ascorbic acid and first predicted its use

in cancer. When Szent-Gyorgyi was on his deathbed, at the age of 93, Linus

ing flew from California to Szent-Gyorgi's home at Woods Hole, Mass., to say

goodbye. Holding his hand, Linus said wistfully, " You know, Albert, I always

thought that someday we two would work together. " Szent-Gyorgyi looked up and

said, humorously, " Well, if not in this life, then maybe in the next. " ing

himself died a few years later, also at age 93. They were two of the greatest

thinkers of the 20th century and it was one of the great privileges of my life

to know them both. I like to think of the two of them smiling down at this

latest development in the fascinating saga of this amazing chemical.

To find out more about the Kansas clinical trial of vitamin C, contact:

Jeanne Drisko, MD

Associate Professor

Program Director

Program in Integrative Medicine

Functional Medicine and Complementary and Alternative Therapies

University of Kansas Medical Center

Kansas City, KS 66160

913-588-6208

email: jdrisko@...

--Ralph W. Moss, PhD

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References:

American College of Physicians (ACP). How vitamin C is administered affects

how much reaches the bloodstream and may affect the results of studies of its

potential effect on cancer. ls of Internal Medicine, Summaries for

Patients, April 6, 2004. Retrieved July 1, 2004 from:

http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/140/7/533

Drisko JA, Chapman J, Hunter VJ. The use of antioxidants with first-line

chemotherapy in two cases of ovarian cancer. J Am Coll Nutr. 2003

Apr;22(2):118-23.

Drisko JA. Personal communication, July 1, 2004.

Fawzi WW, et al. A randomized trial of multivitamin supplements and HIV

disease progression and mortality N Engl J Med 2004;351:23-32.

Moertel, C.G. Interview on 'Health Report', ABC National Radio, August 7,

1989 [cited in s].

Padayatty SJ, et al. Vitamin C pharmacokinetics: implications for oral and

intravenous use. Ann Intern Med. 2004 Apr 6;140(7):533-7.

Prasad KN. Antioxidants in cancer care: when and how to use them as an

adjunct to standard and experimental therapies. Expert Rev Anticancer Ther. 2003

Dec;3(6):903-15.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=pubmed &

dopt=Abstract & list_uids=14686711

s, Evelleen. Vitamin C and Cancer: Medicine or Politics? New York: St.

's Press, 1991.

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