Antioxidants and cancer

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A new HealthLINK is online.On Thursday, September 14, Yale expert Dr. Mayne will be available onlineto answer your questions about antioxidants. Her chat, scheduled 2-3 p.m.(EST), is titled "Antioxidant nutrients and cancer."Dr. Mayne will be live on AmericasDoctor.com, an Internet-based healthinformation site sponsored in southern New England by Yale-New Haven Hospital.During her chat Dr. Mayne will be answering questions concerning the nutrientsknown as "antioxidants." More specifically she will address the claims thatthese nutrients can be used to help prevent chronic diseases such as cancer andheart disease.To monitor or participate in the chat on September 14, go tohttp://um2.unitymail.net/T/A67.199.66.1.613, or copy and paste this address intoyour browsers' location box. Look on the right side of the screen under"Upcoming Events" to connect to Dr. Mayne's chat.About the expertDr. Mayne is an associate professor in the department of Epidemiology and PublicHealth at the Yale University School of Medicine as well as the associatedirector for cancer prevention and control research at the Yale Cancer Center.She received her Ph.D. from Cornell University in nutritional biochemistry andcompleted postdoctoral work at Yale University School of Medicine in cancerepidemiology. She has served on the Cancer Control Committee and the PublicEducation Committee of the American Cancer Society. Currently, she is an editorfor several publications including Pharmacology and Therapeutics and Journal ofNutrition. _____________________________________________________________________If at any time you wish to discontinue your subscription to HealthLINK, just letus know by going to http://www.ynhh.org/healthlink/cancel.html.HealthLINK is a free online service of Yale-New Haven Hospital.

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[hsibaltimore.com]

Dear Reader,

About one-third of all cancer patients who take supplements begin doing

so after their diagnosis.

That's according to a recent survey (Journal of Clinical Oncology,

February 2008), which also notes that nearly two out of every three

cancer patients who take dietary supplements don't discuss their

supplement use with their doctors.

That's not very shocking really. And it's also not very good.

Any issue that impacts your health (such as supplement use) should be

shared with your doctor – even if he tends to be dismissive about

alternative health care.

And he may well be, given the widespread belief that antioxidant

supplements may undercut the effects of chemotherapy and radiation.

But in the decade since that theory was first published in the journal

Oncology, many studies have demonstrated that antioxidants may help

cancer patients live longer while improving quality of life.

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Skewed logic

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Cytotoxic therapies (such as chemo and radiation therapies) create free

radicals. Some believe these therapies depend on free radicals to kill

cancer cells. And some proponents of this theory even suggest that

patients treated with cytotoxic therapies should avoid antioxidant-rich

foods – which would basically cut fruits and vegetables from their

diets.

Right. Pour poison into a cancer patient's blood stream while removing

key sources of high quality nutrients. I have no idea how that scheme

makes sense to anyone.

In a 2007 study from the Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and

Education, researchers combed through several databanks to come up with

19 randomized clinical trials that evaluated the use of antioxidants

during chemotherapy.

The 19 trials included more than 1,500 subjects, and most had advanced

or relapsed cancers. Seven trials evaluated the antioxidant glutathione,

four evaluated melatonin, and the remaining trials examined vitamins A,

C, and E, N-acetylcysteine, ellagic acid, or an antioxidant mixture.

Results showed no significant decreases in chemotherapy effectiveness

when used with antioxidant supplements. In fact, the supplements may

have INCREASED chemo effectiveness. Writing in Cancer Treatment Reviews,

the authors noted: " Many of the studies indicated that antioxidant

supplementation resulted in either increased survival times, increased

tumor responses, or both. "

As for quality of life measures, in 17 trials that assessed chemotherapy

toxicities (such as weight loss, low blood count, nerve damage,

vomiting, diarrhea, etc.), 15 trials showed that subjects who received

antioxidants had fewer side effects than control group subjects who

didn't receive supplements.

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Where to start

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As I've noted in previous e-Alerts, one of the foremost authorities on

alternative cancer treatments – Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D. – has advocated

antioxidant therapy for many years.

At a 2001 symposium, Dr. Moss gave a speech that included this comment:

" We can reassure patients that the overwhelming mass of data accumulated

so far supports the concurrent use of chemotherapy with dietary

antioxidants. " That was one year after Dr. Moss published a book titled

" Antioxidants Against Cancer " in which he outlined the ways antioxidants

enhance the effectiveness of cytotoxic treatments while minimizing their

side effects.

There are many different types of chemotherapy, of course, just as there

are many types of antioxidants. Decisions about which antioxidants to

use with which chemotherapies should be made with professional help from

doctors who are familiar with alternative therapies.

Vitamin C is probably the most common antioxidant therapy for cancer.

Research has shown that high doses of vitamin C administered

intravenously can kill cancer cells while leaving healthy cells intact.

You can find more information in the e-Alert " Hot Buttons " (1/18/07) at

this link:

http://www.hsibaltimore.com/ealerts/ea200701/ea20070118a.html