High-Dose Vitamin C versus Placebo in the Treatment of Patients with Advanced Cancer Who Have Had No Prior Chemotherapy: A Randomized Double-Blind Comparison
Abstract
It has been claimed that high-dose vitamin C is beneficial in the treatment of patients with advanced cancer, especially patients who have had no prior chemotherapy. In a double-blind study 100 patients with advanced colorectal cancer were randomly assigned to treatment with either high-dose vitamin C (10 g daily) or placebo. Overall, these patients were in very good general condition, with minimal symptoms. None had received any previous treatment with cytotoxic drugs. Vitamin C therapy showed no advantage over placebo therapy with regard to either the interval between the beginning of treatment and disease progression or patient survival. Among patients with measurable disease, none had objective improvement. On the basis of this and our previous randomized study, it can be concluded that high-dose vitamin C therapy is not effective against advanced malignant disease regardless of whether the patient has had any prior chemotherapy.
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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 [179]
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- Authors
- Moertel, C. G., Fleming, T. R., Creagan, E. T., Rubin, J., O'Connell, M. J., & Ames, M. M.
- Affiliations
- Mayo Clinic (US)
- Venue
- New England Journal of Medicine
- Publisher
- Massachusetts Medical Society
- Published
- 1985-01-17
- Volume
- 312
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 137-141
- ISSN
- 0028-4793 (ISSN-L)
- 1533-4406
- OpenAlex
- W2332542469
- Cited by
- 637
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 19 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 32 · 2021: 35 · 2020: 28 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 30 · 2017: 28 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 24 · 2012: 17
- FWCI
- 17.73
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- New England Journal of Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Cancer Institute (CA31224, CA 00755)
- 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 colorectal cancer, advanced cancer, disease progression, survival, treatment efficacy
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Ascorbic Acid, Clinical Trials as Topic, Colonic Neoplasms, Double-Blind Method, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Patient Compliance, Prospective Studies, Random Allocation, Rectal Neoplasms
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