Majority of cancer patients use antioxidants to fight cancer

Saturday June 13, 2009 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study in the July 15 issue of Cancer found that the majority of breast cancer patients use antioxidants in hopes that the vitamins may help prevent recurrence of the disease.

  Doctor Heather Greenlee, of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, looked at data on 663 women with breast cancer who participated in the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project. Of those studied, 60.5 percent of patients undergoing conventional treatment used antioxidants.

  The antioxidant supplements included vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene and selenium. A press release by American Cancer Society, who publishes the journal Cancer, cites some doctors as believing antioxidants may interfere with radiation and some types of chemotherapy. Some studies have shown antioxidants may neutralize free radials generated by the treatment to kill cancer cells as well as healthy cells.

  Greenlee found about seven in ten antioxidant users, or 69.3 percent, used doses higher than the dose defined in a Centrum multivitamin. These women were found to be more likely to be using tamoxifen and have a history of eating more fruit and vegetables, using herbal medicine and other alternatives.

  "Given the common use of antioxidant supplements during breast cancer treatment, often at high doses and in conjunction with other complementary therapies, future research should address the effects of antioxidant supplementation on breast cancer outcomes," wrote the authors.

  Whether cancer patients should use antioxidants is a controversial issue. It has been reported that many physicians stand against use of antioxidants because they worry that antioxidants may reduce the efficacy of conventional cancer treatment.

  However, Linus Pauling, who won Nobel Prize in Chemistry, cited some observations saying that cancer patients who subjected themselves to conventional treatments, but also used vitamins such as vitamin C, lived much longer than those who received cancer treatment alone. 

(David Liu and edited Sheilah Downey)