Vitamin C slows down the development of cancer

The injection of high-dose vitamin C can halt the progression of cancer, US scientists claim.

This vitamin can trigger a chain of destruction reactions in cancer cells, the team added. In their experiments, the therapy reduced half of brain tumors, uterine tumors and pancreatic tumors in mice.

The team of the US National Institutes of Health in Maryland used doses up to 4 grams per kilo of weight (greater than any recommended dose for diet or supplements).

The tumor grows much larger in untreated mice (left) than mice treated with vitamin C (right).Photo: BBC.

The mice were bred to have a malfunctioning immune system, then injected with human cancer cells. As a result, mice quickly grow large tumors. The next step is to inject vitamin C into their abdominal cavity.

After treatment, the growth and weight of tumors decreased from 41 to 53%, while in the group of mice that were not injected with vitamins, they spread quickly to other parts of the body - something not seen in the last group. treatment.

"These preclinical data are the first to confirm the benefits of vitamin C in the treatment of human cancer," the authors write.

However, Dr. Alison Ross, from the Cancer Research Center in the UK, said that much more research is needed before it can be considered a feasible therapy.