Can vitamin C be used in the treatment of cancer? The answer seems to be a controversial one: One study shows that vitamin C is ineffective, while another shows that it may help the cancer cells to survive, and still another study shows that vitamin C is effective in treating cancer.
History
In the 1970s Linus Pauling, Nobel Prize recipient for chemistry, introduced the idea of using vitamin C in the treatment of cancer. Drs. Pauling and Ewan Cameron conducted studies showing that cancer patients who took vitamin C survived an average of 300 days longer than those who did not. Dr. Charles Moertel and his colleagues at the Mayo Clinic published a study showing that vitamin C treatment did not work. Both studies were flawed, however. Dr. Pauling's study did not follow the randomized, double-blind method that is now considered standard, and Dr. Moertel's study did not replicate Dr. Pauling's study.
Vitamin C is Ineffective Orally
Because the body regulates how much vitamin C actually gets into the bloodstream, studies have shown that taking vitamin C orally is ineffective .
