Vitamins A and E, which normally are good for you, also appear to keep cancer cells from dying through a natural process of apoptosis. Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill say giving patients those vitamins may actually work against cancer therapy.
The findings were made public during a December news conference at the annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology in Washington, D.C. Dr. Rudolph Salganik says, "cancer patients, especially those undergoing chemotherapy or radiation therapy, may do better on an antioxidant-depleted diet."
The study looks at reactive oxygen species (ROS), which play a central role in the signals that allow our cells to kill bacteria and viruses, destroy toxins and trigger the "suicide" of defective cells such as cancer. Antioxidants, such as vitamins A and E, protect normal cells from the damaging effects of ROS but apparently prevent that targeted apoptotic death of cancer cells.
Salganik says the findings may explain two previous clinical studies showing heavy smokers who ate a diet high in beta-carotene antioxidants had significantly higher rates of lung cancer. The study also shows the addition of vitamins A and E did not have any positive effects at all on the cancer treatment.
For today's top stories and breaking news, click to the ThirdAge Top 100.
