New evidence that intravenous vitamin C effectively fights cancer

The Mouse that Roared

I won’t lie to you – it was somewhat startling.

For several years now I’ve been telling you about advances in research of intravenous ascorbic acid (IAA) to treat cancer. And while we’ve see a growing acceptance of the idea that vitamin C effectively kills some types of cancer cells, I really wasn’t prepared for a sudden flurry of headlines like these:

“Vitamin C Shows Promise as Cancer Treatment” – Washington Post

“Vitamin C May be Useful to Treat Cancer After All” – Reuters

“Final Proof of a Theory” – Daily Record

“Final proof” may be overstating the results of a mouse study. But for whatever reason, this mouse study roared.

Poisoning the bad, sparing the good

The new study was led by Dr. Mark Levine, a National Institutes of Health researcher. NIH also funded the study.

Dr. Levine and his team implanted mice with three types of cancer cells: brain, pancreatic, and ovarian. All three are very aggressive cancers. In mice treated with IAA, cancer cell growth was about half that of mice who weren’t treated.

A HealthDay News report about the study called this “an unexpected use for vitamin C.”

Sure – completely unexpected if you’ve completely ignored existing research such as a 2005 study I told you about in the e-Alert “Cold Case” (9/22/05).

In that study (also led by Dr. Levine) 10 types of cancer cells and four types of normal cells were exposed to high vitamin C levels that could easily be reached intravenously. In five of the cancer cell types, about half of the cells were either killed or apoptosis (cell “suicide”) occurred. Also, C exposure nearly completely halted the growth of surviving cells.

Remarkably, no damage was done to the normal cells tested.

Levine and his NIH team theorized that the high concentration of C prompted the formation of hydrogen peroxide (HP), which is known to kill cells. In this case the healthy cells may have repaired HP damage, but the cancer cells were defenseless.

Spreading the word

The Press Association summation of the Levine study noted that human trials of IAA are needed “before any thought can be given to using injected vitamin C to fight cancer.”

Those trials are now underway, but I’m pretty sure at least one Pennsylvania patient would strongly disagree about waiting before giving any thought to this therapy.

NBC’s Philadelphia affiliate covered the Levine study by featuring a local doctor – Scott Greenberg, M.D. – and one of the many cancer patients he’s successfully treated with IAA.

At age 59, Arlindo Olivera’s doctors told him that his treatment options had run out. His lung cancer had spread to his brain and his condition was considered hopeless. That’s when Olivera began IAA treatment with Dr. Greenberg. One year later, Olivera is cancer- free.

And Mr. Olivera’s story is not unique. You can find descriptions of several successful IAA case studies in these e-Alerts:

“Just Getting Started” (4/11/06)

“Good News” (5/24/06)

“Diamonds in the Rough” (7/3/06)

And you can find tips about locating a practitioner who administers IAA therapy in the e- Alert “Calling Out Around the World” (10/24/06).

In addition, you might also want to check out our newest HSI report: “11 Ways to Survive Cancer Without a Single Drug.”

I hope you’ll share this e-Alert with your family and friends. Please help us get the word out that there are promising natural alternatives to chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

Sources:
“Pharmacologic Doses of Ascorbate Act as a Prooxidant and Decrease Growth of Aggressive Tumor Xenografts in mice” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Published online before print 8/4/08, pnas.org
“Pharmacologic Ascorbic Acid Concentrations Selectively Kill Cancer Cells: Action as a Pro-Drug to Deliver Hydrogen Peroxide to Tissues” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Published online before print 9/12/05, pnas.org
“Study finds Vitamin C May Stop Cancer Growth” NBC News Philadelphia, 8/4/08, nbc10.com