The ears of chemist Linus Carl Pauling (1901 – 1994), who won the Nobel prize many years ago and who devoted his life to the benefits of vitamin C in the fight against diseases including cancer, continue to ring with new studies. In a detailed study recently published in the famous and respected scientific journal Science, it was determined that vitamin C killed cancer cells carrying the cancer-causing mutation in laboratory and animal studies. Science journal is one of the journals with the highest scientific efficiency and its impact factor is 33.
These studies provide a beacon of hope for many cancer types for which effective drugs are not available. Today, attempts are being made to develop drug treatments for mutation. In this study, strong findings were found that suggest that vitamin C or ascorbic acid may be a part of targeted therapies such as a cancer drug.
After the Scottish doctor Pauling published successful cancer treatment with intravenous administration of high-dose vitamin C in 1971, two clinical trials were conducted in the USA in the 1970s and 1980s by the Mayo Clinic, and the treatment was found to be ineffective. In these studies conducted by the Mayo Clinic, vitamin C was used orally, unlike Dr. Pauling. It is thought that the amount of vitamin C given orally is both low in dose and lower in the bloodstream than when administered intravenously. In the studies conducted by Levine and his group, it has been suggested that high doses of vitamin C should be administered intravenously in order to gain benefit. In recent years, few clinical studies have been conducted, and it has been found that high-dose vitamin C administration together with chemotherapy in ovarian and pancreatic cancer patients has few side effects and may contribute to the life span of cancer patients. But the work could not be carried forward.
Independent scientists continued their studies on the role of vitamin C in cancer treatment on this issue, which was not supported by pharmaceutical companies.
A preclinical mouse and cell culture study published in Science has provided findings suggesting that one day vitamin C may be a targeted therapy approach.
Colorectal (large intestine) cancer is the third most common type of cancer. About half of the patients have the offensive type mutant KRAS and BRAF genes. In this patient group, which is more difficult to treat, the disease progresses more aggressively and does not respond well to current chemotherapy or treatment approaches.
A recent study published in Science showed that administration of high doses of vitamin C equal to the vitamin C contained in 300 oranges prevented the proliferation of colorectal cancer with KRAs and BRAF mutations in preclinical models. This research is considered an important step in enabling the development of a new treatment in cancer treatment.
Vitamin C is an antioxidant and plays a role in protecting cells from damage. Vitamin C given in high doses, on the other hand, kills cancer cells by oxidizing with the opposite effect in cancer cells.
Oxygen is abundant in the arteries and vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is oxidized to dehydroascorbic acid (DHA) in this environment. Both sugar and DHA are carried into the cancer cell by the sugar carrier GLUT1, which is more present in the membrane of cancer cells. GLUT1 cannot pass ascorbic acid into the cell.
DHA entering the cancer cell acts like a Trojan horse and is converted back to ascorbic acid by the antioxidants in the cancer cell. During this process, the necessary antioxidants are consumed by the cancer cell, and the cancer cells die by oxidative damage.
Colorectal cancer cells with mutated KRAS and BRAF genes require more antioxidant substances to survive, due to the formation of more free oxygen radicals. Therefore, it is more sensitive than normal cells and other cancer cells to the effect of DHA formed in the vessels with the administration of high-dose vitamin C.
Based on these data, it should be considered as a new treatment approach together with other conventional treatments in suitable patients rather than just high-dose vitamin C treatments. It can be considered as an adjuvant therapy especially in kidney cancer, bladder cancer and pancreatic cancer, which have high levels of GLUT1 receptors.
Cancer treatments should be carried out under the control and supervision of a medical oncologist, and a patient-centered treatment strategy, in which not only alternative treatment but also complementary approaches are integrated with conventional medical treatments, should be used. In this way, more successful results can be obtained.
Prof. Dr, Canfeza Sezgin
Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology Specialist
