Vitamin C injections could play a role in treating blood cancers

Conclusion This mouse study explored whether treatment with vitamin C could restore function of TET2 and therefore block the progression of blood cancers like leukaemia. It found that using high doses of vitamin C intravenously did in fact suppress the growth of leukaemia cancer stem cells in the mice implanted with cell lines from human patients with leukaemia. It also reported that using vitamin C alongside existing treatment with PARP inhibitors helped reduce the progressions of the disease. The researchers suggest that in the future, vitamin C could be used alongside chemotherapy and other conventional treatment forms. This is exciting early stage research, with potential to pave the way for future treatment options for leukaemia and other blood cancers. One of the challenges of treating acute myeloid leukaemia is that patients are usually older so it is often not safe to use very aggressive forms of chemotherapy. Hopefully vitamin C, or a similar substance, could help enhance the effects of milder forms of chemotherapy. However, because this was an animal study, these results would need further investigation and have to undergo clinical trials in humans before new treatments based on these findings could be offered to patients. It is far too soon to start taking high doses of vitamin C on the basis of this research, especially as large amounts of the vitamin (more than 1g per day per person) can cause stomach upsets. Some mice in this study received 100 milligrams, which...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Cancer Source Type: news