Failure of High-Dose Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) Therapy to Benefit Patients with Advanced Cancer: A Controlled Trial
Abstract
One hundred and fifty patients with advanced cancer participated in a controlled double-blind study to evaluate the effects of high-dose vitamin C on symptoms and survival. Patients were divided randomly into a group that received vitamin C (10 g per day) and one that received a comparably flavored lactose placebo. Sixty evaluable patients received vitamin C and 63 received a placebo. Both groups were similar in age, sex, site of primary tumor, performance score, tumor grade and previous chemotherapy. The two groups showed no appreciable difference in changes in symptoms, performance status, appetite or weight. The median survival for all patients was about seven weeks, and the survival curves essentially overlapped. In this selected group of patients, we were unable to show a therapeutic benefit of high-dose vitamin C treatment.
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Some clinical trials with high doses of vitamin C failed to show a benefit in cancer patients because vitamin C was administered orally in these studies.
“Some clinical trials with high doses of vitamin C failed to show a benefit in cancer patients because vitamin C was administered orally in these studies [154,178,179].”
From Vitamin C-Sources, Physiological Role, Kinetics, Deficiency, Use, Toxicity, and Determination (2021) · cites this paper as [178]
1970s trials in terminal cancer patients found that intravenous high-dose ascorbate prolonged survival, but 1980s large RCTs did not confirm this because they used oral ascorbate.
“Clinical trials in the 1970s involving patients with terminal cancer showed that intravenous high-dose ascorbate extended patient survival in response to ascorbate treatment93,94, whereas large-scale randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in the 1980s failed to confirm these initial findings because ascorbate was given orally instead95,96.”
From Targeting cancer vulnerabilities with high-dose vitamin C (2019) · cites this paper as [95]
In a large controlled trial, daily oral high-dose vitamin C gave no therapeutic benefit to patients with advanced cancer.
“This large-scale clinical trial shows that daily oral intake of high-dose vitamin C had no therapeutic benefit in patients with cancer.”
From Targeting cancer vulnerabilities with high-dose vitamin C (2019) · cites this paper as [95]
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- Authors
- Creagan, E. T., Moertel, C. G., O'Fallon, J. R., Schutt, A. J., O'Connell, M. J., Rubin, J., & Frytak, S.
- Affiliations
- Mayo Clinic (US)
- ORCID
- Creagan, Edward T.
- Venue
- New England Journal of Medicine
- Publisher
- Massachusetts Medical Society
- Published
- 1979-09-27
- Volume
- 301
- Issue
- 13
- Pages
- 687-690
- ISSN
- 0028-4793 (ISSN-L)
- 1533-4406
- OpenAlex
- W2333401880
- Cited by
- 584
- References
- 13
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 37 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 30 · 2017: 33 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 18 · 2012: 16
- FWCI
- 10.37
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- New England Journal of Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Vitamin C and Antioxidants Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Biochemistry › Antioxidant Activity and Oxidative Stress
- Keywords
- high-dose vitamin C, vitamin C, advanced cancer, survival, symptom improvement, performance status, cancer treatment efficacy
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Ascorbic Acid, Clinical Trials as Topic, Double-Blind Method, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Neoplasms, Placebos
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