Vitamin C and Cancer
Some two
years ago, while visiting
my family in Montreal, I
had the devastating experience
of witnessing my Aunt Kate's
painful hospital ordeal
with cancer. Subjected to
cytotoxic treatments of
radiation therapy, and dosed
with narcotics to control
the pain, poor Kate, always
such a jovial and cheerful
dear soul, appeared to wander
in and out of consciousness.
She finally died several
months later, having been
able to return home for
a brief few months.
My family
is very traditional and
has absolute faith in the
medical profession. In their
opinion, if vitamins and
diet could help, they would
be prescribed by their doctor.
To see someone I loved dearly,
dying, and not be able to
mitigate some of the toxic
effects of the hospital/medical
regime with immune-enhancing
natural medicines and nutrients
such as Vitamin C underscored
for me how radically attitudes
must change before our health
care system freely and openly
embraces the best of all
traditions.
The so-called
"war against cancer"
has been an infuriating
public relations research
fraud which has drained
billions of dollars, created
false illusions of miracle
cures in the public eye,
while harassing and prosecuting
those vanguard physicians
courageous enough to discover,
research or treat cancer
patients with "non-traditional"
medicines. I cannot adequately
describe the rage and disgust
I feel, after reviewing
the so-called "progress"
of the past few decades:
the prosecution, in the
U.S., of pioneering cancer
giants such as Drs. Lawrence
Burton, Emanuel Revici and
and Stanislaw Burzynski(110);
the subjection of nearly
50% of all cancer patients
to toxic chemotherapy which
has been shown to objectively
help only 5%(56); the denial
of research grants to study
the action of alternative
cancer treatments; the shoddy
research which has been
carried out by certain institutions
to supposedly investigate
the therapeutic efficacy
of nutrients such as Vitamin
C(166). This stinking morass
of the cancer "establishment"
has moved at least one group,
Project Cure(172), to form
an effective lobby to promote
and advocate research and
access to alternative cancer
treatments.
Here are
the plain facts:
1. 20 years ago, the chances
of getting cancer were 1
in 6; now it is 1 in 3(56);
2. Traditional
cancer treatments, ie. surgery,
radiation and chemotherapy,
which have improved the
management and prognosis
of certain cancers, have
not measured up to expectations
of affording a cure for
cancer, and have often worsened
the misery of cancer patients
through their toxic effects(9,56);
3. Data
is accumulating which shows
that a high proportion of
cancers are at the very
least influenced or aggravated
by environmental factors:
stress, high sugar, high
fat, refined diet, smoking,
alcohol, pollution, and
carcinogenic substances
we ingest through the food
we eat or the chemicals
we handle in our work(56).
4. It is
possible to positively enhance
the quality of life and
often our survival(154)
with cancer, through the
judicious use of positive
mental attitude(100), a
nutritious diet and exercise
programme, and supplementation
with high doses of certain
health enhancing and detoxifying
nutrients such as Vitamin
C(40-44,154).
Vitamin
C and Cancer
____________________
Vitamin
C and its effects upon many
types of cancer has been
studied in animals and in
humans over the past 30
years. The preoccupation
of the medical research
establishment with more
high-tech and profitable
treatments has not afforded
the extensive research with
non-toxic substances such
as Vitamin C which could
have been accomplished over
this time period. There
is, nevertheless, a respectable
body of evidence which documents
the therapeutic effects
of Vitamin C and cancer,
which are briefly summarized
here:
1. Vitamin
C delays the appearance
of breast tumour formation
in mice from 66 weeks to
120 weeks(165);
2. Plasma
levels of Vitamin C are
inversely correlated with
incidence of gastrointestinal
and cervical cancers(23,181,232);
3. Vitamin
C detoxifies carcinogenic
nitrites and nitrates(54,204);
4. Vitamin
C acts synergistically with
radiation treatment for
cervical cancer(54,181,232);
5. Vitamin
C prevents formation of
bladder tumours(166);
6. Vitamin
C inhibits the action of
hyaluronidase, the enzyme
found in malignant tumours,
thereby slowing down the
degradation of cellular
tissues and invasion by
cancerous growths(43,44);
7. Vitamin
C controls pain in cancer
patients, to such an extent
that morphine and other
narcotic pain-relieving
drugs are often not needed(43,44)
;
8. Vitamin
C increases the sense of
well-being, and hence the
quality of life of cancer
patients(43,44);
9. A decrease
in malignant cells shed
from tumours is seen(166);
10. There
is some reversal from hepatomegaly
(enlargement of the liver)
and malignant jaundice(166);
11. There
is a decline in the red
blood cell sedimentation
rate(166);
12. Vitamin
C counteracts many of the
unpleasant side effects
of chemotherapy(43);
13. Vitamin
C stimulates the production
of phagocytic leucocytes,
white blood cells active
in engulfing and destroying
cancerous cells(242);
14. Vitamin
C destroys free radicals,
which have been seriously
implicated in cancer formation(7,161,182).
The Clinical Evidence
_____________________
Dr. Ewan
Cameron, Senior Consultant
Surgeon in Vale of Leven
Hospital, Scotland has been
treating "hopeless",
"terminal" cancer
patients for over 15 years
with Vitamin C, 10g or more
per day(40-44). With his
growing experience with
hundreds of such patients,
whose lives have been extended
and improved, he has accumulated
considerable evidence of
Vitamin C's efficacy against
cancer. Due to his self-professed
"bias" that Vitamin
C definitely prolongs the
life of cancer patients,
Dr. Cameron has shunned,
on ethical grounds, the
conducting of double blind,
placebo controlled trials,
because he would not want
to deny a single cancer
patient the option to take
Vitamin C just for the advancement
of research. However, Dr.
Cameron has in fact conducted
several trials in which
he has compared the treatment
of 100 Vitamin C cancer
patients with 1000 matched
controls – that is,
patients of the same age
group, cancer type, treatment,
diet, everything, that is,
except Vitamin C.
In one
such study by Dr. Cameron,
published in 1976, ALL 1000
control patients had died,
while 18/100 of the Vitamin
C-treated patients were
still alive(41). In fact,
the Vitamin C-treated patients
lived 300 days longer than
the controls! In 1978, a
similar study divided the
patients into 9 groups of
different types of cancer:
ovary, rectum, bronchus,
stomach, colon, bladder,
kidney and breast. The Vitamin
C group lived from 114-435
days longer than the control
group. 8% of the Vitamin
C patients were alive, while
NONE of the controls were(42).
The Mayo
Clinic "carefully controlled
trials" of 1979 and
1985(61,153), which, amidst
considerable publicity,
refuted any therapeutic
claim for Vitamin C and
cancer, was seriously flawed
in several respects:
1. Most
of the Mayo patients had
received cytotoxic chemotherapy
for their cancer prior to
Vitamin C. Chemotherapy
drugs destroy the immune
system, thereby making it
more difficult for immune-enhancing
agents such as Vitamin C
to act;
2. The
"control" group
of Mayo patients were taking
Vitamin C in not insignificant
dosages, invalidating this
group as a control;
3. The
Vitamin C group only received
Vitamin C for a short time
– 2 1/2 months, after
which time, the treatment
was suspended. Dr. Cameron's
patients took Vitamin C
every day for the rest of
their lives.
The Epidemiological Evidence
_______________________
A Johns
Hopkins study conducted
by Wassertheil-Smoller(232),
with 169 women investigated
for cervical dysplasias
(abnormalities) indicated
that women with low plasma
levels of Vitamin C stand
a 10-fold increased risk
of cervical dysplasia. Another
American study conducted
by Romney et al(181) found
low Vitamin C levels in
asymptomatic women with
cervical carcinomina in
situ.
A Norwegian
and American study conducted
in 1973 and 74 by Bjelke(23),
surveying 30,000 people,
showed a negative correlation
between Vitamin C and gastric
cancer. A more recent study
by Stahelin et al(197) corroborated
this inverse correlation
of Vitamin C with gastric
cancer, and furthermore
documented that Vitamin
C appears to act synergistically
with other factors, most
notably smoking and alcohol
in its action against cancer.
Vitamins A, E and other
antioxidants also show an
inverse relationship with
gastric cancer.
The Role of Vitamin C in
Cancer Treatment
_________________________________
Vitamin
C is recommended as an adjunct
and integral component of
any cancer regime, not as
the sole treatment for cancer.
Vitamin C has been shown
to enhance and potentiate
the effects of traditional
cancer treatments, including
radiation and chemotherapy.
Since every cancer is unique,
an individualised treatment
programme, incorporating
the mind and spirit (stress
reduction, positive imaging),
and the body (nutrition,
supplements, medicines)
will have the greatest successful
effects in the treatment
of cancer.
