Just Getting Started
Thirty years ago, scientists were aware that vitamin C might be effective in killing cancer cells. It’s too bad that vitamin C cancer research, compared to drug research, is still just getting off the launch pad. But lately we’ve seen some very promising progress in the use of intravenous vitamin C (IVC) for cancer treatment.
Absorbing issue
When attacking cancer with vitamin C, absorption is the key issue. For instance, 10 grams of IVC prompts blood levels of the vitamin that are many times higher than that achieved with the same amount of the vitamin when taken orally.
In the e-Alert “Cold Case” (9/22/05), I told you about a revealing lab study in which researchers at the National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) exposed normal cells and 10 types of cancer cells to a dose of vitamin C that could be easily reached using intravenous vitamin IVC.
In five of the cancer cell types, about half of the cells were either killed or apoptosis (cell “suicide”) occurred. Vitamin C exposure also halted most of the growth of surviving cancer cells. The normal cells were completely unaffected.
The next step
In that e-Alert last year I told you I’d keep you posted about further IVC/cancer research, and already some new research has emerged that takes the NIDDK work to a new level. Last month, the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) published the details of three IVC/cancer case studies.
Case One: A 51-year-old woman with kidney tumors refused conventional treatment. Instead, she received 65 grams of IVC twice each week. She also used other supplements such as N-acetylcysteine and niacinamide. After 10 months of IVC, her tumors were gone. Her cancer remained in complete remission for four years, at which point she was diagnosed with lung cancer (she had been a long-time smoker). She began IVC therapy again, but it wasn’t successful in treating the lung cancer. She died one year later.
Case Two: A 49-year-old man with a bladder tumor and multiple satellite tumors, declined chemotherapy and radiation. He began an IVC regimen of 30 grams twice each week for three months, followed by 30 grams once every two months for four years. During those four years he sometimes took more frequent treatments. Nine years later, the man is in good health with no recurrence or spreading of the cancer. Other supplements used in this patient’s regimen include flax oil, selenium and alpha lipoic acid.
The authors of the CMAJ article note that standard treatment for muscle invasive bladder cancer is complete or partial bladder removal. When treated without surgery, this cancer type “almost invariably” spreads to other organs “within a short period.”
Case Three: After receiving six weeks of radiation therapy to treat lymphoma, a 66-year-old woman declined chemotherapy and began receiving 15 grams of IVC twice each week for two months. She continued with a less frequent IVC regimen for another 19 months. Ten years later the patient is in good health and cancer-free. In addition to vitamin C, the patient also took a variety of supplements that included beta-carotene, CoQ10, N-acetylcysteine and a multiple vitamin.
Two bonus cases
It appears that IVC not only successfully addresses some cancers, but for some patients it also relieves the debilitating side effects of chemotherapy. Here’s a comment by an HSI member named Donna, posted in the Healthier Talk community forums (hsionline.com).
“My best friend has been on the chemo routine for cancer (non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma), she has had 5 chemos every 6 weeks. She is also getting 50 grams of vitamin C intravenously three times a week. She has had no side effects from either, in fact she goes shopping after the chemo, and leads a normal life.
“During the Christmas holidays she discovered that it’s the vitamin C that is preventing side effects from the chemo, as she wasn’t able to get the treatments. After 7 days without C she was in pain all over & had sores inside her mouth. When she went back after 10 days for a treatment of vitamin C she was feeling much better just during the drip of C. The next day she was completely fine again.”
And of course, we’re already following another IVC/cancer case: Katie. In yesterday’s e-Alert “Girl Uninterrupted” (4/10/06), I told you about Katie Wernecke, a young Texas girl with Hodgkin’s disease who is currently being treated with IVC. It’s our hope that Katie will join the growing list of successful outcomes.
Sources:
“Intravenously Administered Vitamin C as Cancer Therapy: Three Cases” Canadian Medical Association Journal, Vol. 174, No. 7, 3/8/06, cmaj.ca
