An apple a day may not keep the doctor away, but University of Iowa researchers are testing how massive doses of vitamin C could help fight three of the deadliest forms of cancer. Doctor Joe Cullen, a U-I professor of surgery, is helping head up the study. He says they’re launching a new round of clinical trials in cancer patients using I-Vs of vitamin C along with chemotherapy and radiation.
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The University has already been conducting trials using vitamin C to treat pancreatic cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and an aggressive type of brain cancer known as G-B-M. So far, Cullen says the results are very encouraging, especially with a trial that just finished for locally-advanced pancreatic cancer.
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Researchers at U-I’s Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center have just received a five-year, $9.7 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to continue the trials of high-dose vitamin C. Cullen says it promises to be a safe, simple, cost-effective approach to improving treatment for many kinds of cancer.