Role of Vitamin C in Selected Malignant Neoplasms in Women
- PMID: 35215535
- PMCID: PMC8876016
- DOI: 10.3390/nu14040882
Role of Vitamin C in Selected Malignant Neoplasms in Women
Abstract
Since the first reports describing the anti-cancer properties of vitamin C published several decades ago, its actual effectiveness in fighting cancer has been under investigation and widely discussed. Some scientific reports indicate that vitamin C in high concentrations can contribute to effective and selective destruction of cancer cells. Furthermore, preclinical and clinical studies have shown that relatively high doses of vitamin C administered intravenously in 'pharmacological concentrations' may not only be well-tolerated, but significantly improve patients' quality of life. This seems to be particularly important, especially for terminal cancer patients. However, the relatively high frequency of vitamin C use by cancer patients means that the potential clinical benefits may not be obvious. For this reason, in this review article, we focus on the articles published mainly in the last two decades, describing possible beneficial effects of vitamin C in preventing and treating selected malignant neoplasms in women, including breast, cervical, endometrial, and ovarian cancer. According to the reviewed studies, vitamin C use may contribute to an improvement of the overall quality of life of patients, among others, by reducing chemotherapy-related side effects. Nevertheless, new clinical trials are needed to collect stronger evidence of the role of this nutrient in supportive cancer treatment.
Keywords: breast cancer; cervical cancer; endometrial cancer; l-ascorbic acid; ovarian cancer; vitamin C.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Figures
![Figure 1](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/8876016/bin/nutrients-14-00882-g001.gif)
![Figure 2](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/8876016/bin/nutrients-14-00882-g002.gif)
![Figure 3](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/instance/8876016/bin/nutrients-14-00882-g003.gif)
Similar articles
-
The Effect of Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) in the Treatment of Patients with Cancer: A Systematic Review.Nutrients. 2019 Apr 28;11(5):977. doi: 10.3390/nu11050977. Nutrients. 2019. PMID: 31035414 Free PMC article.
-
Health-related quality of life in early breast cancer.Dan Med Bull. 2010 Sep;57(9):B4184. Dan Med Bull. 2010. PMID: 20816024
-
Intravenously administered vitamin C as cancer therapy: three cases.CMAJ. 2006 Mar 28;174(7):937-42. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.050346. CMAJ. 2006. PMID: 16567755 Free PMC article.
-
Why Vitamin C Could Be an Excellent Complementary Remedy to Conventional Therapies for Breast Cancer.Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Nov 9;21(21):8397. doi: 10.3390/ijms21218397. Int J Mol Sci. 2020. PMID: 33182353 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Role of vitamins in the risk, prevention, and treatment of breast cancer.Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol. 2004 Feb;16(1):19-25. doi: 10.1097/00001703-200402000-00005. Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol. 2004. PMID: 15128003 Review.
Cited by
-
Review of the Potential Role of Ascorbate in the Prevention and Treatment of Gynecological Cancers.Antioxidants (Basel). 2024 May 19;13(5):617. doi: 10.3390/antiox13050617. Antioxidants (Basel). 2024. PMID: 38790722 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Vitamins in Gynecologic Malignancies.Nutrients. 2024 May 5;16(9):1392. doi: 10.3390/nu16091392. Nutrients. 2024. PMID: 38732639 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Micronutrient Status and Breast Cancer: A Narrative Review.Int J Mol Sci. 2024 May 2;25(9):4968. doi: 10.3390/ijms25094968. Int J Mol Sci. 2024. PMID: 38732186 Free PMC article. Review.
-
PANC-1 Cell Line as an Experimental Model for Characterizing PIVKA-II Production, Distribution, and Molecular Mechanisms Leading to Protein Release in PDAC.Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Mar 20;25(6):3498. doi: 10.3390/ijms25063498. Int J Mol Sci. 2024. PMID: 38542466 Free PMC article.
-
Vitamin D and Its Receptors in Cervical Cancer.J Cancer. 2024 Jan 1;15(4):926-938. doi: 10.7150/jca.87499. eCollection 2024. J Cancer. 2024. PMID: 38230221 Free PMC article. Review.
References
-
- Ball G.F.M. Vitamins: Their Role in the Human Body. 1st ed. Wiley-Blackwell; Hoboken, NJ, USA: 2004.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical