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From: Taka on 5 Aug 2008 21:41
from: http://www.nbc10.com/health/17098288/detail.html

Study Finds Vitamin C May Stop Cancer Growth

New research from the National Institutes of Health has found that
vitamin C may help to reduce the growth of cancerous tumors.

According to the research, high-dose injections of vitamin C have
reduced tumor growth by half.

The treatment also does not harm healthy cells, which means there are
fewer difficult side effects, often experienced with traditional
cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation.

The work was done on mice, but one local doctor said he's successfully
used vitamin C treatment on patients for a while.

NBC10 News HealthWatch has been following one of those patients for
about a year.

Arlindo Olivera, 59, was told to go home and die after doctors felt
there was nothing else they could do to treat his cancer.

Olivera's lung cancer was so advanced it had spread to his brain.

Olivera is currently cancer free.

"My pulmonary doctor told me, whatever you are doing, keep doing it,"
he said.

Olivera said he believes his cancer is gone because of vitamin C
treatment.

"It's working on me from what the doctor says," he said.

Dr. Scott Greenberg said he has successfully treated many people in
the local area with vitamin C infusions, including Olivera.

"One patient I had, had a breast mass from breast cancer that was so
large it was protruding out of her chest and after a few months of
treatment the mass shrunk and went away and it's been over five years
now she has had no sign of cancer whatsoever," Greenberg said.

Some doctors said they believe vitamin C treatment works by killing
the cancer cells.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health said it may also work
as an antioxidant, protecting cells from the damage of free radicals.

"The reason vitamin C works for cancer cells is it produces hydrogen
peroxide just like chemotherapy does and that hydrogen peroxide will
help and cause oxidative damage to the cancer cell, thus destroying
it," Greenberg said.

The National Institutes of Health study treated mice with aggressive
brain, ovarian and pancreatic tumors.

Tumor growth and weight was reduced by 41 to 53 percent and the brain
cancer stopped spreading.

"We've found it to be very helpful in cases of breast cancer, ovarian
cancer, lung, colon cancer lymphoma and other bone marrow cancer,"
Greenberg said.

Greenberg said it only works in very high intravenous doses and can be
used along with traditional chemo and radiation.

He said it's a valuable option for those who don't respond to other
treatment.

"It's not going to work on everybody just like chemo or radiation is
not going to work on everybody, but when you have cancer it's
certainly worth the effort to do this treatment," Greenberg said.

Olivera continues to be cancer free.

The treatment is not covered by insurance, but costs considerably less
than standard chemotherapy or radiation.

It's about $125 per treatment versus several thousand dollars.

Locally, Thomas Jefferson University hospital is enrolling some cancer
patients in a National Institutes of Health study.
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