Reevaluation of Ascorbate in Cancer Treatment: Emerging Evidence, Open Minds and Serendipity
Sebastian J Padayatty, MRCP, PhD, and Mark Levine, MD, FACN
Molecular and Clinical Nutrition Section, Digestive Diseases Branch, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland E-mail: MarkL@intra.niddk.nih.gov
Some clinicians and alternate therapy practitioners advocate megadose intravenous and oral ascorbate treatment of cancer. Randomized control studies using oral ascorbate showed no benefit. Recent data show that intravenous but not oral administration of ascorbate can produce millimolar plasma concentrations, which are toxic to many cancer cell lines. We propose that ascorbate treatment of cancer should be reexamined by rigorous scientific scrutiny in the light of new evidence.