Vitamin C or ascorbic acid may be used to slow or stop cancer growth and increase the odds for patients to survive, a new study published on Aug 11, 2009 in the Journal of Translational Medicine once again suggests.
The study led by C H Yeom at the Catholic University of Korea in Seoul Korea and colleagues demonstrated in mice that vitamin C has carcinostatic effects.
In their experiments, Yeom and colleagues applied high doses of vitamin C in mice after the animals received sarcoma S-180 cells intraperitoneally.
They found high dose concentration vitamin C increased the survival rate by 20 percent compared to the control.
The highest survival rate was found in the group of mice that continuously received 1.7X10(-4) mol vitamin C before and after the induction of cancer cells.
In the mice that had the highest survival rate, the researchers further found that vitamin C inhibited the expression of three angiogenesis-related genes that control production of bFGF, VEGF and MMP2 by 0.3 times, 7 times and 4 times respectively.
Based on the results from biopsy, gene expression studies, and wound healing analysis in vivo and in vitro, Yeom et al. concluded that vitamin C inhibits cancer growth through inhibition of angiogenesis.
Angiogenesis is a physiological process involving the growth of new blood vessels from pre-existing vessels, according to wikipedia. Cancer growth relies on blood vessels to obtain nutrients.
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