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Intravenous Vitamin C Therapy

Dr Cameron and I have concluded our recent analysis of the evidence with the following words: “With the possible exception of during intensive chemotherapy, we strongly advocate the use of supplemental ascorbate in the management of all cancer patients from as early in the illness as possible. We believe that this simple measure would improve the overall results of cancer treatment quite dramatically, not only by making the patients more resistant to their illness but also by protecting them against some of the serious and occasionally fatal complications of the cancer treatment itself.

Linus Pauling. Winner of 2 Nobel Prizes

How Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) can help cancer patients

Linus Pauling PhD (1901-1994), the only person to win two unshared Nobel Prizes, scientist, peace activist, and champion of vitamin C therapy was a scientific genius who leaped the boundaries of physics, chemistry, biology and medicine.

Dr Pauling and Dr Ewan Cameron began their paper “Ascorbic Acid and Cancer: A Review” – published with Brian Leibovitz in Cancer Research in March 1979. The paper marked a crescendo of the duo’s eight years of work in the cancer field; work which they attempted to bolster using all of the previous and ongoing studies that they could find. In the Review, they state:

Present evidence suggests to us that supplemental ascorbate can offer some degree of benefit to all advanced cancer patients and quite remarkable benefit to a fortunate few and that it has even greater potential value in the supportive treatment of earlier and more favorable patients…Ascorbic acid has a unique advantage relative to other remedies for cancer; it is almost completely safe and harmless even when given in sustained high doses for prolonged periods of time.

This Study (Drs. Cameron and Pauling) states:
A study has been made of the survival times of 100 terminal cancer patients who were given supplemental ascorbate, usually 10 g/day, as part of their routine management and 1000 matched controls, similar patients who had received the same treatment except for the ascorbate… 

The ascorbate-treated patients were found to have a mean survival time about 300 days greater than that of the controls. Survival times greater than 1 yr after the date of untreatability were observed for 22% of the ascorbate-treated patients and for 0.4% of the controls. The mean survival time of these 22 ascorbate-treated patients is 2.4 yr after reaching the apparently terminal stage; 8 of the ascorbate-treated patients are still alive, with a mean survival time after untreatability of 3.5 yr.

This study (Cameron and Campbell) states:
50 patients with various advanced cancers who were considered “terminally ill” were prescribed a daily dose of 10 grams ascorbate [Vitamin C]. During the observation period (660+ days), 17 patients showed no response, 10 had a minimal response and 6 patients died. Of the remaining patients, however, 11 had evidence of slowed tumor growth, 3 showed a cessation of tumor growth, and 5 showed an objective tumor regression with long-term survival.

Here is an excellent article: Vitamin C in Alternative Cancer Treatment: Historical Background.
Keith I. Block, MD, and Mark N. Mead, MS

[See Dr Cameron’s Protocol for the Use of Vitamin C in the Treatment of Cancer published By Elsevier]


Note
Before getting high doses of vitamin C make sure you’re checked for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency. Deficiency in G6PD can cause damage of the red blood cells which can precipitate a fatal reaction if you get a high dose of vitamin C.

In patients with renal insufficiency, high dose IVC may lead to kidney stone formation or acute oxalate nephropathy says this 2021 study

The Truth About Vitamin C and Cancer

Source: PatrickHolford.com
Vitamin C reduces your risk of cancer, and high doses are an effective anti-cancer therapy. See the latest compelling evidence.

First shown to be a powerful anti-cancer agent in 1971, it wasn’t until 20 years later that vitamin C started to be accepted by the mainstream medical profession. Eating a vitamin C-rich diet substantially reduces the risk of cancer, and high intakes – above 5000mg a day (the equivalent of 100 oranges) – substantially increases the life expectancy of cancer patients.

The overwhelming evidence is that a high intake of vitamin C correlates with a low risk for cancer. In January 1991, Dr Gladys Block, formerly with the National Cancer Institute, published a review [1] of vitamin C research which concluded that there was very strong evidence of a protective effect of vitamin C for non-hormone cancers. Of the 46 such studies in which a dietary vitamin C index was calculated, 33 found statistically significant protection. 

Studies showing the effects of Vitamin C infusions

This 2018 study says: Glioblastoma multiforme is a high grade malignant brain tumour with a poor prognosis. Here we report the case of a woman with glioblastoma who lived for over four years from diagnosis (median survival 12 months and 2% survival for three years), experiencing good quality of life for most of that time. She underwent initial debulking craniotomy, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, as well as having intravenous vitamin C infusions 2–3 times weekly over the four years from diagnosis…Overall, IV vitamin C given concurrently with chemotherapy and radiotherapy had no apparent adverse reactions and contributed to an improved quality of life and potentially an increase in progression free and overall survival.

Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid)
Data in this study suggest that high-dose Vitamin C selectively induces DNA damage on cancer stem cells.

This 2022 study says Ascorbic acid may become a significant treatment option in the fight against cancer, due to its widespread availability in nature, minimal toxicity, and low cost.

This study revealed that Vitamin C treatment dramatically reduced the self-renewal ability, and percentages of Cancer Stem Cells in Liver cancer.

This study found that Vitamin C was 10 times more potent than anticancer drug 2-DG for the targeting of Cancer Stem Cells.

This study says Vitamin D and its analogs have inhibitory effects on cancer stem cell signaling in various types of human cancer cells.

Vitamin C and Doxycycline
This study found that antibiotics, such as Doxycycline, could eradicate Cancer Stem Cells in multiple cancer types. These include: DCIS, breast (ER(+) and ER(-)), ovarian, prostate, lung, and pancreatic carcinomas, as well as melanoma and glioblastoma. Doxycycline was also effective in halting the propagation of primary cultures of CSCs from breast cancer patients, with advanced metastatic disease. The study authors propose the combined use of Doxycycline and Vitamin C as a new strategy for eradicating CSCs.

[Docycycline is available online from honeybeehealth.com and others.]

This 2018 study found:
Of 9,328 patients surveyed, only 1% reported minor side effects that included lethargy, fatigue, change in mental status and vein irritation. More recent Phase 1 safety trials of high dose IVC indicate only minor side effects and no adverse events over and above what would be expected from the underlying disease or chemotherapy side effects.

A minor product of vitamin C metabolism is oxalate which has the potential to form calcium oxalate crystals in individuals predisposed to renal stone formation. One patient with a history of renal calculi developed a kidney stone following 2 weeks of continuous IVC infusion. Acute oxalate nephropathy has also been reported in several cases following high dose IVC administration, however, the patients all exhibited existing renal dysfunction.. Therefore, high dose IVC is contraindicated for patients with renal dysfunction due to the inability of the kidneys to clear high circulating concentrations. However, in individuals with normal renal function, IVC infusions of up to 1.5 g/kg body weight resulted in less than 0.5% conversion into oxalic acid.

This 2017 study says:
In addition, preclinical studies and clinical trials demonstrate the feasibility, selective toxicity, tolerability, and potential efficacy of pharmacological ascorbate in GBM [Glioblastoma] and NSCLC [non-small-cell lung cancer] therapy.

This study says:
AA [Ascorbic Acid] has the potential to selectively kill tumor cells in a manner similar to other tumor cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents.

This study concluded:
We have presented evidence that vitamin C may be useful in the treatment of cancer. In particular we have produced the following evidence: Vitamin C is toxic to tumor cells. Concentrations of vitamin C that kill tumor cells can be achieved in humans using intravenous vitamin C infusions.

This study says:
Our data show that ascorbic acid selectively killed cancer but not normal cells, using concentrations that could only be achieved by i.v. administration and conditions that reflect potential clinical use. 

This study says:
There are a wide variety of mechanisms by which ascorbate prevents and inhibits malignant growth… Ascorbate may produce benefits in both prevention and treatment of cancer…The ideal anticancer agent is obviously one that specifically interferes with tumor growth, prolongs survival time, and improves quality of life. There is evi-dence that ascorbate might fit this description…Based on the evidence reviewed herein, we suggest the use of intravenous AA as adjuvant therapy in cancer treatment..

This study says:
There are definitely various mechanisms by which Vitamin C attacks malignant growth…The collective evidence supports the notion of increasing ascorbate intake for patients suffering malignancies. Ascorbate may produve benefits in both prevention and treatment of cancer.

This study says:
Evidence suggests that IVC [ Intravenous Vitamin C ] may be able to modulate inflammation, which in turn might improve outcomes for cancer patients. IVC may serve as a safe, adjunctive therapy in clinical cancer care.

This study says:
Twelve years ago, we used infusions of 30 grams of intravenous ascorbic acid, twice per week, and found that metastatic lesions in the lung and liver of a man with a primary renal cell carcinoma disappeared in a matter of weeks…We subsequently reported a case of resolution of bone metastases in a patient with primary breast cancer (1A) using infusions of 100 grams, once or twice per week.

Case study:
High Dose Intravenous Vitamin C and Long Time Survival of a Patient With Cancer of Head of the Pancreas.

This study says:
In this review we present the fundamental chemistry and biochemistry of ascorbate that may have a role in the mechanisms of high dose, i.v. ascorbate in the treatment of cancer…Epidemiologic evidence suggests that vitamin C-rich foods play a protective role against development of cancer

This study says:
Although there is still controversy regarding anticancer effects of vitamin C, the use of vitamin C is considered the safe and effective therapy to improve the quality of life in terminal cancer patients.

This study concluded:
Complementary treatment of breast cancer patients with i.v. vitamin C was shown to be a well tolerated optimization of standard tumour-destructive therapies, reducing quality of life-related side-effects.

This study says:
In summary, our analysis of data from cancer patients given IVC, along with our tests of cytokine levels, suggest that IVC may reduce inflammation in cancer patients, and that this reduction in inflammation is correlated with reductions in the tumour markers PSA.

Case Study:
High-Dose Intravenous Vitamin C in the Treatment of a Patient with adenocarcinoma of the kidneys.

Case studies:
High dose intravenous vitamin c and metastatic pancreatic cancer: Two cases

This study says:
In small phase I clinical studies, intravenously administered ascorbate was safe. Survival was doubled in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer

This study says:
The prognosis for patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer remains dismal, with less than 3% survival at 5 years. Recent studies have demonstrated that high-dose, intravenous pharmacological ascorbate (ascorbic acid, vitamin C) induces cytotoxicity and oxidative stress selectively in pancreatic cancer cells vs. normal cells, suggesting a promising new role of ascorbate as a therapeutic agent.

This study says:
Here, we report the use of PAA [Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma ] in a patient with poorly differentiated stage IV PDA as an exclusive chemotherapeutic regimen. The patient survived nearly 4 years after diagnosis, with PAA as his sole treatment, and he achieved objective regression of his disease.

This study says:
As the progression of disease continued after chemotherapy, the child, at the age of 2.8 years, was started on high-dose intravenous vitamin C (IVC) treatment (7-15 grams per week) for 30 months. After 30 months, the results of IVC treatments demonstrated reduction and stabilization of the tumors in the optic chiasm, hypothalamus, and left optic nerve according to radiographic imaging. The right-sided optic nerve mass seen before IVC treatment disappeared by the end of the treatment. CONCLUSIONS This case highlights the positive effects of treating NF1 glioma with IVC. Additional studies are necessary to evaluate the role of high-dose IVC in glioma treatment.

Case study:
We report a case of regression of multiple pulmonary metastases, which originated from hepatocellular carcinoma after treatment with intravenous administration of high-dose vitamin C.

This study says:
We are able to show that average z-scores for several inflammatory and angiogenesis promoting cytokines are positive, indicating that they are higher than averages for healthy controls, and that their levels decreased over the course of treatment.

This study says:
Comparison of control and study groups revealed that i.v. vitamin C administration resulted in a significant reduction of complaints induced by the disease and chemo-/radiotherapy, in particular of nausea, loss of appetite, fatigue, depression, sleep disorders, dizziness and haemorrhagic diathesis.

This study concluded:
Compared with chemotherapy, IVC therapy, in combination with a diet and supplement regimen, is tolerated well, appears to have antitumor activity in some cases, has been administered alongside conventional therapy without impairing response, is safe for most patients, and is inexpensive. It also appears to increase the quality of life for patients. IVC therapy has the potential to become an important chemotherapeutic method to combat cancer.

Have any side effects or risks been reported from high-dose vitamin C?

IV high-dose vitamin C has caused very few side effects in clinical trials. However, high-dose vitamin C may be harmful in patients with certain risk factors.

Source: National Cancer Institute


Where can I get this treatment and more information?

High dose intravenous Vitamin C therapy is available at:
drstewartsclinic (Laois, Ireland)
Nuacell (Dublin, Ireland)
Riordan Clinic (USA) and numerous clinics worldwide offer Vitamin C therapy.

If you can’t access IV Vitamin C, Liposomal Vitamin C is better than nothing.

Note
Before getting high doses of vitamin C make sure you’re checked for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency. Deficiency in G6PD can cause damage of the red blood cells which can precipitate a fatal reaction if you get a high dose of vitamin C.

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High doses of vitamin C, given every day, without ever stopping, to patients with cancer, as an adjunct to appropriate conventional therapy, improve the general health of nearly every cancer patient, increase survival time somewhat, and have great value for a fortunate few, who respond especially well

Dr. Linus Pauling

Page updated September 2024

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