Health
Pancreatic cancer patient survival doubled with high dose of common vitamin, study finds
High doses of vitamin C could be a new breakthrough in treating cancer.
The University of Iowa Health Care Carver College of Medicine has shared results from a randomized, phase 2 trial testing the impact of adding high-dose vitamin C to intravenous chemotherapy treatments for pancreatic cancer patients.
The researchers found that administering 75 grams of vitamin C three times a week doubled overall survival rates of patients with late-stage metastatic pancreatic cancer from eight months to 16 months.
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The study, published in the journal Redox Biology, also found that progression-free survival was extended from four to six months.
The researchers found that vitamin C in high doses generates hydrogen peroxide, which “kills the cancer cells.” (iStock)
Lead researcher Joseph Cullen, MD, University of Iowa professor of surgery and radiation oncology, shared in an interview with Fox News Digital that the “groundbreaking” findings are the result of 20 years of research on vitamin C.
After testing vitamin C in the lab, Iowa researchers found that using vitamin C in much higher doses “worked great” in killing cancer cells.
“Vitamin C, which is inexpensive and well-tolerated, may improve the efficacy of chemotherapy with a good quality of life.”
“We found that at these high doses, ascorbate [vitamin C] actually generates hydrogen peroxide,” Cullen said. “And the hydrogen peroxide is what kills the cancer cells.”
The patients who received vitamin C in the phase 2, FDA-approved trial also seemed to “better tolerate the chemotherapy they were given,” according to the researcher.
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“Therefore, they got more chemotherapy for longer periods of time and larger doses of chemotherapy, which also would kill the tumor cells,” he added.
Intravenous vitamin C could also help combat other kinds of cancer, according to Cullen, who mentioned that his colleagues are looking into treating lung and brain cancer.
The patients in the study tolerated chemo better with high-dose IV vitamin C, the researcher said. (iStock)
Dr. Georgios Georgakis, a surgical oncologist at Stony Brook Medicine in New York, noted that these findings could “potentially be a breakthrough” for cancer patients.
“It seems to be working synergistically with chemotherapy,” Georgakis, who was not involved in the study, said in a separate conversation with Fox News Digital.
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Dr. Joshua Strauss, an attending hematologist and medical oncologist at Advanced Care Oncology and Hematology Associates of the Atlantic Medical Group in Morristown, New Jersey, also expressed his support for this method.
“Small clinical trials such as this one have recently provided exciting and consistent signals that vitamin C, which is inexpensive and well-tolerated, may improve the efficacy of chemotherapy with a good quality of life,” the oncologist, who also was not involved in this new research, said in a statement sent to Fox News Digital.
The benefits of vitamin C
Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, is an “essential dietary nutrient” found in various foods like citrus fruits, tomatoes, potatoes, broccoli, strawberries, cabbage and spinach, according to Strauss.
Georgakis noted that vitamin C can help with tissue growth and repair, collagen production, wound healing, bone and skin health, and immune support.
In lower doses, vitamin C acts as an antioxidant. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends getting 75mg to 90mg daily.
Vitamin C can help the body with tissue growth and repair, collagen production, wound healing, bone and skin health, immune support and more. (iStock)
Once the body has taken in enough vitamin C, any excess is excreted through the kidneys and won’t be absorbed, Cullen pointed out.
But once the dosage is bumped to much higher levels, such as 75 grams, it acts as a pro-oxidant.
“So, it actually makes these reactive oxygen species that kill cancer cells well,” he said.
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It would take backing from a pharmaceutical company to support what would be a “multi-million-dollar” phase 3 trial to continue research, according to Cullen.
For now, he suggests that cancer patients interested in exploring IV vitamin C should talk to their oncologist and seek out professionals who can administer it.
Strauss applauded the researchers and the National Cancer Institute for their efforts, noting that he read the results with “cautious optimism.”
“It seems to be working synergistically with chemotherapy,” an oncologist commented on the method. (iStock)
“Pancreatic cancer can be extremely difficult to treat, and I am hopeful whenever I read positive results from a phase 2 study,” he went on. “However, the study has several limitations, and the results should be carefully interpreted.”
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Strauss and the study authors acknowledged some of those limitations, including the small sample size of 34 patients and lack of diversity.
“Larger randomized phase 3 trials are needed to confirm the results before this is adopted into widespread clinical use,” Strauss told Fox News Digital.
Georgakis agreed that although the trial did have a “very good outcome,” this is “not the golden bullet for treating cancer.”
“However, this is exactly what we need – incremental, good outcomes in our fight against cancer,” he said.
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A new injectable therapy is showing positive results in reducing melanoma throughout a five-year period.
The personalized mRNA cancer therapy, called intismeran autogene, combined with the cancer immunotherapy drug KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), is a collaboration between Merck and Moderna.
The results from the phase 2b KEYNOTE-942 study were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago on May 27.
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After about a five-year follow-up, the combo drug was found to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49% compared to pembrolizumab alone.
The researchers analyzed data from 157 patients with high-risk stage 3 and 4 melanoma whose cancer had been removed via surgery. The participants were split into two groups — one received the combo therapy and the other only received pembrolizumab, according to a press release.
The therapy was found to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49% compared to pembrolizumab alone after a five-year follow-up. (iStock)
The findings revealed that the combination group saw benefits that were “sustained and durable over time.”
Intismeran autogene is designed using mutations identified in a patient’s own tumor, with the intention of teaching the immune system what the cancer looks like so that it can recognize and attack it.
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According to the researchers, intismeran is “well-tolerated” with a “manageable” safety profile.
The most commonly cited side effects of the personalized mRNA vaccine plus KEYTRUDA were fatigue, injection-site pain, chills, fever and headache. The researchers reported no new long-term safety concerns and no severe vaccine-related adverse events.
The combination therapy is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study — the final confirmation stage.
Patients with late-stage melanoma have a “significant risk” of cancer recurrence, according to an expert. (iStock)
In a Merck press release from January, Kyle Holen, MD, Moderna’s senior vice president and head of development, oncology and therapeutics, noted that this data highlights the “potential of a prolonged benefit … in patients with resected high-risk melanoma.”
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“We continue to invest in our platform in oncology because of encouraging outcomes like these, which illustrate mRNA’s potential in cancer care,” he said.
Dr. Marjorie Green, senior vice president and head of oncology, global clinical development at Merck Research Laboratories, also commented that for many patients with stage 3 or 4 melanoma, there is a “significant risk of recurrence following surgery.”
Researchers confirmed that the combination therapy is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study. (iStock)
“As such, demonstrating the longer-term potential of intismeran autogene and KEYTRUDA to reduce the risk of recurrence for certain patients with melanoma is a meaningful milestone,” she said.
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The company cited encouraging five-year follow-up data and pointed to upcoming late-stage INTerpath trial results with Moderna in several hard-to-treat cancers.
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An accidental lab discovery has opened the door to entirely new ways of preventing the flu.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells, SWNS reported.
By targeting the specific molecules the viruses rely on, scientists found that they could block them from entering new cells and halt their replication altogether.
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Researchers say these “fundamental insights” into seasonal influenza highlight a clear path toward developing better preventive medications.
“The hope is that fundamental, curiosity-based research like this helps to pave the way for novel strategies to treat and prevent influenza infections,” principal investigator Dr. Emily Bruce, from the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, said in the SWNS report.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells. (iStock)
While several flu strains cause illness, H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A viruses are the most common. However, current flu tests cannot differentiate between them, and clinical treatments are identical for both.
Although vaccines and antivirals are available, Bruce noted a “dire” need for better medications to stop the virus from spreading cell to xxcell.
“You don’t get sick when a virus is in one cell,” he noted. “You get sick because a virus replicates itself and goes into many more cells.”
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The study, which was published in The Journal of Virology, originally aimed to map how viral RNA segments are transported within cells to create new viral particles.
The team used H1N1 and H3N2 viruses isolated from the nasal passages of positive patients in 2022.
Clinical treatments remain identical for both primary strains of the flu virus. (iStock)
During the investigation, the team unexpectedly stumbled upon a cellular pathway that blocked the virus from entering lung cells, SWNS reported.
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The data revealed that when a specific human protein called Rab11B was depleted, H3N2 viruses failed to enter human lung cells. H1N1 viruses were completely unaffected.
Using reverse genetics, the team mapped this defect and uncovered a brand-new, H3N2-specific role for Rab11B during viral entry.
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This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way.
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“Viruses are like pirates from different countries hijacking someone’s ship,” Bruce said. “Different viruses, like different types of pirates, use different methods to get onboard.”
This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way. (iStock)
“We had previously thought that all flu viruses used the same way to get into a cell, but we discovered that this is not true,” she went on. “H1N1 and H3N2 need different proteins to get in, and if you get rid of the right protein, a specific virus can’t get in.”
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While these findings identify a critical cellular pathway for viral entry, the study was conducted using isolated cells, the researchers acknowledged.
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Further research is needed to determine whether blocking the protein is safe and effective within a live, complex human respiratory system.
Bruce and the team hope to conduct further research to determine whether this Rab11B-dependency is a fundamental property of H3N2, or if it’s a trait unique to currently circulating flu strains.
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Eating processed meat like ham, sausage and bacon may be linked to a higher risk of certain types of cancer, according to new research.
While health organizations have already confirmed that processed meat can contribute to colon cancer, this study looked closer at cancers in the upper digestive tract, where the link has historically been less clear.
To understand these connections, researchers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), one of the world’s largest long-term nutrition and cancer cohorts, tracked the health and diets of 450,112 people across Europe for an average of 14 years.
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The study group included 131,426 men and 318,686 women, according to the study’s press release.
During the follow-up period, 876 people developed stomach cancer and 215 people developed esophageal adenocarcinoma, which is cancer of the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach.
For female participants, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk of developing the disease. (iStock)
Researchers tracked where the stomach cancers grew, separating them into the upper part of the stomach near the throat and the lower part of the stomach.
The researchers also sorted the tumors into two categories based on how the cancer cells appeared under a microscope: intestinal, which forms more organized structures, and diffuse, in which the cells are more scattered throughout the tissue.
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After adjusting for other lifestyle factors, the researchers found that for every extra 30 grams of processed meat a person ate per day, their overall risk of stomach cancer went up by 9%. Eating that same extra 30 grams a day was also linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma.
A standard single slice of regular deli-sliced ham or lunch meat averages around 28 grams, according to USDA data and nutritional tracking databases.
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken and turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach. (iStock)
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken or turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach, the researchers noted.
The study also revealed differences between men and women. For male participants, only processed meat showed a clear, statistically significant link to a higher risk of stomach cancer. For female participants, however, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk.
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These findings align with global health benchmarks, particularly those established by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The agency has long classified processed meat as a known human carcinogen, primarily due to its strong, well-documented links to colorectal cancer.
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However, health organizations have also consistently pointed to a potential, yet less definitive, relationship between these meats and cancers of the stomach.
Eating 30 grams of processed meat a day, or the equivalent to one slice of ham, was linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. (iStock)
Further scientific investigation is needed to confirm the findings and to account for other underlying risk factors, such as certain stomach infections, which could interact with dietary habits.
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A key limitation of the study is its reliance on self-reported diets, which can sometimes lead to inaccuracies in how participants recall their meat consumption over time, the researchers noted.
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The findings were published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers requesting comment.
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