Vitamin C not proven to 'boost' chemo

Conclusion Among 25 newly diagnosed ovarian cancer patients, those given vitamin C alongside standard chemotherapy were found to have significantly fewer mild to moderate treatment-related side effects than those on standard treatment. However, the researchers found no significant differences in terms of cancer survival, which was assessed up to five years after treatment. One explanation for this is that the study was too small to detect any effect, but this could also be because no survival benefit actually exists. It's also worth noting that the women knew whether they were given vitamin C, so the placebo effect may have influenced reporting of side effects. This is particularly relevant, as two participants actually withdrew from the study because they were allocated standard chemotherapy but wanted to receive vitamin C as well. This gives an indication that at least some of the participants were expecting greater benefits through receiving vitamin C. Consequently, while there are tentative signs that high-dose intravenous vitamin C may have the potential to complement existing chemotherapy treatments in treating ovarian cancer, this has not yet been proven convincingly. The conclusions that we are able to draw from this research are limited by its small sample size (just 25 people) and its sole focus on ovarian cancer, rather than a range of cancers. These points limit the reliability and generalizability of its results for all cancers at this stage. A large human c...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Cancer Food/diet Source Type: news