High Doses Of Multiple Antioxidants
November, 2005 Vol. 2 No. 11
Newsletter from Dr.Ray Strand
High Doses of Multiple Antioxidants
Essential Ingredients in Improving the
Efficacy of Standard Cancer Therapy: A
Review of the Medical Literature
This newsletter is going to challenge the
conventional medical wisdom when it comes to
the use of nutritional supplements in patients who
are receiving traditional cancer therapy. This
comes up every time I consult a patient who has
just been diagnosed with cancer or asked whether
they think they should be taking nutritional
supplements while they are receiving
chemotherapy or radiation. I would venture to
guess that less than 10% of the radiation
therapists and oncologists support the use of
nutritional supplements by their patients.
However, this number appears to be lessening.
This obviously leaves me in the minority and it
always leaves me in a difficult situation trying to
explain why everyone who is in this situation
needs to be on the most potent antioxidant
combination they can find. I hope that this
newsletter, which is solely devoted to presenting
my arguments about this situation, will give you
more confidence in sharing my recommendations
on nutritional supplements with people who have
cancer.
Why are the oncologists and radiation therapists
concerned about the use of nutritional
supplements in their patients who are receiving
standard cancer therapy? They argue that their
treatments use oxidative stress (free radicals) to
destroy the cancer cells. They feel that if patients
build up their antioxidant defenses via
supplementation in order to protect themselves
from the treatments that it could also build up the
antioxidant defense system of the cancer cells
and reduce the effectiveness of their treatments.
They do not have any medical studies to support
their concern; however, it is theoretically a
legitimate possibility. So again, I turn to the
medical literature to present my case for
nutritional supplements in this situation.
The efficacy of standard therapy for those patients
who have cancer involving surgery (whenever
possible), chemotherapy, and radiation therapy
has reached a plateau, and for most solid tumors
it remains relatively ineffective. This is why early
detection of cancers is becoming so important.
Physicians are looking for better and more
effective ways to treat their cancer patients.
Obviously, these treatments carry a tremendous
amount of morbidity and mortality for our patients.
Wouldn’t any oncologist and radiation therapist
want to be able to enhance the effectiveness of
their standard therapies, while at the same time
protecting them from their horrible and sometimes
life threatening side effects? Well, as you will see
as you read this article, nutritional supplements
offer both of these possibilities.
Individual antioxidants have been studied for their
anti-cancer properties. The most studied
antioxidants are vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin E,
and carotenoids. I will review these studies.
Anti-Cancer Properties of Vitamin A
The effectiveness of vitamin A depends on the
type and amount that was used. It has been
shown to inhibit the growth of some cancers. At
high doses, variable extents of tumor size
reduction have been reported. Vitamin A,
however, has been shown to have very little or no
effect on several human tumors, which include
melanoma, non-small cell lung carcinoma,
prostate cancer, and breast cancer. Some of the
variants of vitamin A have been shown to produce
extreme toxicity, especially when used in higher
doses. Most researchers in this area agree that
the use of single antioxidant vitamins, which
require very high doses for its effectiveness, has
no value in the treatment of cancer.
Anti-Cancer Properties of Vitamin C
Vitamin C has been shown to inhibit the growth of
cancer cells in both animal and human studies.
There are other studies which show that vitamin C
at lower doses can actually stimulate the growth
of cancer cells. Linus Pauling has shown that the
use of 10 gms of sodium ascorbate can prolong
and improve the quality of life in cancer patients.
Other researchers have disputed these studies;
however, they used straight ascorbic acid. There
has been no significant toxicity related to these
higher doses of vitamin C except for occasional
GI upset. Medical studies are now showing us
that calcium ascorbates are actually safer and
more effective in patients with cancer. However,
there is still a concern of using vitamin C alone in
cancer patients.
Anti-Cancer Properties of Vitamin E
There have been several studies that have shown
that vitamin E used in supplementation will inhibit
the growth and increase the cell death of various
cancers. Research studies are showing that dalpha-
tochopherol succinate is the most potent
form of vitamin E in inhibiting the growth of cancer
cells and causing increased cell death of these
cancer cells. The higher antioxidant and biological
effect of this natural form of vitamin E has also
been demonstrated in several different studies.
Anti-Cancer Properties of the Carotenoids
There are over 1000 different carotenoids.
However, the most common ones are betacarotene,
lycopene, and lutein. Most of the
studies have been done using these carotenoids.
They have been shown to inhibit the growth of
cancer cells and, in the case of leukoplakia (a precancerous
tumor), a dramatic reversal was
shown. Lycopene has been shown to decrease
the risk of prostate cancer. Beta-carotene has
also been shown to decrease the damage to
normal cells by radiation therapy. It is felt that a
combination of carotenoids is the best
recommendation for patients with cancer.
Anti-Cancer Properties of B Vitamins
There have not been any studies showing major
benefits with the B vitamins and cancer treatment.
Vitamin B3 may enhance the radiation response
of some tumors. However, all in all most of the
studies show that supplementation with a single
vitamin could actually be harmful.
Anti-Cancer Properties of CoQ10
Exciting new research is showing that CoQ10 is
able to program cancer cells to self-destruct. This
finding was one of several from recent studies
conducted by researchers at the University of
Miami (FL) using CoQ10 in supplementation.
CoQ10 was found to change the genetic makeup
of the cancer cell, which allowed the cancer cell to
kill itself without harming normal cells.
Essentially, CoQ10 set off a natural process of
cell death of the cancer cells called apoptosis.
The genetic makeup of normal cells was not
affected.
I have observed this phenomenon clinically in
many of my cancer patients. This is why I have
always strongly recommended high dose CoQ10
for all my cancer patients. Dr. Peter Langsjoen
who is the head of the CoQ10 Society
International has reported case studies of women
who were sent home to die because of metastatic
breast cancer to bone and liver which went into
spontaneous remission just using CoQ10. Every
cancer patient needs to be taking high dose
CoQ10 (500 to 600 mg of powder form or 180 to
200 mg of gel form) along with a complete and
balanced antioxidant and mineral tablets.
Efficacy of a Mixture of Antioxidants
The use of individual antioxidants in cancer
patients produces varying results and only at very
high levels, which in the case of some may cause
significant toxicity. The lower doses of single
antioxidants have been shown to actually
increase tumor growth. However, when
researches looked at combining these antioxidant
nutrients, they were able to demonstrate a
marked inhibition of cancer cell growth. These
antioxidants were given at levels that if used
alone would produce no results or even enhance
the cancer growth. When individual antioxidants
were increased within the mixture, there was
further reduction of the cancer. These studies and
others are leading clinicians like me to
recommend mixtures of optimal doses of several
antioxidants and minerals and to push some of
the more potent antioxidants like Coquinone and
Proflavanol. Higher doses of vitamin E in the form
of d-alpha-tocopherol succinate may actually
increase the effectiveness of my recommendation
for cancer patients.
The Effectiveness of Antioxidants in
Combination with Standard Cancer Therapies
Most of the studies that have been performed with
single antioxidants both in the lab and within the
body have shown an enhancement of the
chemotherapeutic medications. However, there is
an occasional study which has shown a negative
effect when a single antioxidant is used with a
particular chemotherapeutic drug, i.e. synthetic
beta-carotene and 5-FU. When these same
antioxidants are used in combination with several
other antioxidants, there is only enhancement of
the effectiveness of the drugs.
Most oncologists and radiation therapists remain
skeptical of using antioxidant vitamins with their
patients who are receiving standard cancer
therapies. Since both the chemotherapeutic drugs
and radiation use the production of excessive free
radicals to destroy or inhibit the growth of the
tumor, they are worried that the cancer cells will
be more resistant to their treatments. However,
except for a rare situation where only a single
antioxidant is used, this does not hold true when
you examine the medical studies that are
available. In fact, just the opposite occurs. Those
cancer patients receiving standard cancer
therapies who are also taking a combination of
antioxidant vitamins and their supporting nutrients
actually have significantly better results than
those patients who simply take the standard
therapies. In other words, the effect of a mixture
of antioxidants in combination with tumor
therapeutic agents will greatly enhance the
survival rates of these patients. This is the exact
opposite result that these physicians would
expect. Why is this happening?
The medical literature is showing us that
antioxidant supplements actually protect the
normal cells while at the same time making the
cancer cells more vulnerable to the traditional
cancer therapies. These findings can be attributed
to the fact that cancer cells accumulate these
antioxidants, at very high levels because of the
cancer cells' altered feedback mechanism that
has gone awry. This excessive intracellular
accumulation of these antioxidant vitamins affects
many of the biochemical events in the cancer
cells:
1. Suppressing many of the growth
stimulating signals of these cancer cells
2. Cell differentiation
3. Enhancing effect on synthesis and
secretion of growth factor-Beta and protein-
21, both of which are powerful inhibitors of
cell growth
4. Setting off natural cell death (apoptosis) as
in the case of CoQ10
In lay terms, the cancer cells just keep taking up
the antioxidants to very high levels. So instead of
protecting these cancer cells, they actually inhibit
their growth and proliferation, which at the same
time leads to increased cell death. When they are
used with standard chemotherapeutic treatments,
they actually enhance the effectiveness of these
therapies.
The Other Great Benefit of Antioxidants:
Reduction of the Toxicity of Standard Cancer
Therapies
Normal cells are actually protected from the toxic
effects of these standard cancer treatments
because normal cells will not take excessive
amounts of antioxidants. They will, however, be
able to build up their natural antioxidant defense
systems so that they are performing at optimal
levels. Here are just a few of the positive benefits
found in the medical literature:
1. Vitamin E reduces bleomycin-lung fibrosis,
adriamycin-induced cardiac toxicity, and
skin necrosis. Vitamin E also has been
shown to protect normal cells from
radiation damage.
2. Coenzyme Q10 has also been shown to
protect against adriamycin-induced cardiac
toxicity.
3. Beta-carotene reduces the adverse effects
of radiation and some chemotherapeutic
drugs.
Since most of the side effects caused by the
standard cancer therapies are caused by the
excessive free radicals they produce, it only
makes common sense that cancer patients using
nutritional supplements would tolerate these
medications better and recover from their
treatments quicker. This has truly been my clinical
experience. When patients follow my nutritional
supplement recommendations for cancer found
on my web site, they have had very positive
experiences. I remember when a 21-year-old girl
told me that she had gone into remission after
receiving her standard cancer therapy. Her
oncologist came over to her and said, “What are
you taking?” She asked "Why?" He said, “I have
been watching you for weeks, and you are over
here reading your magazines when all of my other
patients are vomiting out their guts. Not only are
you now in remission, but you did so well
throughout the treatments.” She informed him that
she has been on a high-quality, complete and
balanced nutritional supplement. I have heard this
kind of story dozens of times with my patients.
The review of the medical literature has just
convinced me even more now that what I have
been recommending is correct.
This is a very emotional topic among physicians
and patients alike. Many patients will blindly follow
their doctors’ recommendations because they are
dealing with a life-threatening disease. I have
focused this newsletter solely on the decision of
whether patients with cancer should take
supplements while receiving standard cancer
therapies. My advice to my patients is to start the
recommended nutritional supplements as soon as
they have been diagnosed with cancer. This
allows them time to begin to build up their own
antioxidant defense system (even a week or two
prior to starting treatments is beneficial). They
should not take single antioxidants. They need to
take a product that is complete and balanced.
Then they can push the amount of CoQ10 and
grape seed extract that they take.
I personally believe that someday in the future (it
may take 10 to 15 years) everyone who is
diagnosed with cancer will be encouraged by their
physician to take high-quality complete and
balanced nutritional supplements. They not only
help their bodies fight the cancer, but will enhance
their therapies and help protect the patient from
the treatments' horrible side effects.
If you are trying to help a family member or a
friend who has been diagnosed with cancer, I
would encourage you to show them this
newsletter and my specific nutritional
recommendations for cancer patients found on my
web page. If they want the medical references on
which I based this newsletter, have them get a
copy of the following review article from their local
medical library, usually found in their hospital.
High Doses of Multiple Antioxidant Vitamins:
Essential Ingredients in Improving the Efficacy of
Standard Cancer Therapy
Kedar N. Prasad, Ph.D., Arun Kumar, M.D., Vinod
Kochupillai, M.D., and William C. Cole, Ph.D.
Center for Vitamins and Cancer Research,
Department of Radiology, School of Medicine,
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center,
Denver, CO
Journal of the American College Of Nutrition,
Volume 18, Number 1, 13-25 (1999)
This article lists an additional 71 articles that
support their conclusions in its bibliography.
Newsletter from Dr.Ray Strand
High Doses of Multiple Antioxidants
Essential Ingredients in Improving the
Efficacy of Standard Cancer Therapy: A
Review of the Medical Literature
This newsletter is going to challenge the
conventional medical wisdom when it comes to
the use of nutritional supplements in patients who
are receiving traditional cancer therapy. This
comes up every time I consult a patient who has
just been diagnosed with cancer or asked whether
they think they should be taking nutritional
supplements while they are receiving
chemotherapy or radiation. I would venture to
guess that less than 10% of the radiation
therapists and oncologists support the use of
nutritional supplements by their patients.
However, this number appears to be lessening.
This obviously leaves me in the minority and it
always leaves me in a difficult situation trying to
explain why everyone who is in this situation
needs to be on the most potent antioxidant
combination they can find. I hope that this
newsletter, which is solely devoted to presenting
my arguments about this situation, will give you
more confidence in sharing my recommendations
on nutritional supplements with people who have
cancer.
Why are the oncologists and radiation therapists
concerned about the use of nutritional
supplements in their patients who are receiving
standard cancer therapy? They argue that their
treatments use oxidative stress (free radicals) to
destroy the cancer cells. They feel that if patients
build up their antioxidant defenses via
supplementation in order to protect themselves
from the treatments that it could also build up the
antioxidant defense system of the cancer cells
and reduce the effectiveness of their treatments.
They do not have any medical studies to support
their concern; however, it is theoretically a
legitimate possibility. So again, I turn to the
medical literature to present my case for
nutritional supplements in this situation.
The efficacy of standard therapy for those patients
who have cancer involving surgery (whenever
possible), chemotherapy, and radiation therapy
has reached a plateau, and for most solid tumors
it remains relatively ineffective. This is why early
detection of cancers is becoming so important.
Physicians are looking for better and more
effective ways to treat their cancer patients.
Obviously, these treatments carry a tremendous
amount of morbidity and mortality for our patients.
Wouldn’t any oncologist and radiation therapist
want to be able to enhance the effectiveness of
their standard therapies, while at the same time
protecting them from their horrible and sometimes
life threatening side effects? Well, as you will see
as you read this article, nutritional supplements
offer both of these possibilities.
Individual antioxidants have been studied for their
anti-cancer properties. The most studied
antioxidants are vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin E,
and carotenoids. I will review these studies.
Anti-Cancer Properties of Vitamin A
The effectiveness of vitamin A depends on the
type and amount that was used. It has been
shown to inhibit the growth of some cancers. At
high doses, variable extents of tumor size
reduction have been reported. Vitamin A,
however, has been shown to have very little or no
effect on several human tumors, which include
melanoma, non-small cell lung carcinoma,
prostate cancer, and breast cancer. Some of the
variants of vitamin A have been shown to produce
extreme toxicity, especially when used in higher
doses. Most researchers in this area agree that
the use of single antioxidant vitamins, which
require very high doses for its effectiveness, has
no value in the treatment of cancer.
Anti-Cancer Properties of Vitamin C
Vitamin C has been shown to inhibit the growth of
cancer cells in both animal and human studies.
There are other studies which show that vitamin C
at lower doses can actually stimulate the growth
of cancer cells. Linus Pauling has shown that the
use of 10 gms of sodium ascorbate can prolong
and improve the quality of life in cancer patients.
Other researchers have disputed these studies;
however, they used straight ascorbic acid. There
has been no significant toxicity related to these
higher doses of vitamin C except for occasional
GI upset. Medical studies are now showing us
that calcium ascorbates are actually safer and
more effective in patients with cancer. However,
there is still a concern of using vitamin C alone in
cancer patients.
Anti-Cancer Properties of Vitamin E
There have been several studies that have shown
that vitamin E used in supplementation will inhibit
the growth and increase the cell death of various
cancers. Research studies are showing that dalpha-
tochopherol succinate is the most potent
form of vitamin E in inhibiting the growth of cancer
cells and causing increased cell death of these
cancer cells. The higher antioxidant and biological
effect of this natural form of vitamin E has also
been demonstrated in several different studies.
Anti-Cancer Properties of the Carotenoids
There are over 1000 different carotenoids.
However, the most common ones are betacarotene,
lycopene, and lutein. Most of the
studies have been done using these carotenoids.
They have been shown to inhibit the growth of
cancer cells and, in the case of leukoplakia (a precancerous
tumor), a dramatic reversal was
shown. Lycopene has been shown to decrease
the risk of prostate cancer. Beta-carotene has
also been shown to decrease the damage to
normal cells by radiation therapy. It is felt that a
combination of carotenoids is the best
recommendation for patients with cancer.
Anti-Cancer Properties of B Vitamins
There have not been any studies showing major
benefits with the B vitamins and cancer treatment.
Vitamin B3 may enhance the radiation response
of some tumors. However, all in all most of the
studies show that supplementation with a single
vitamin could actually be harmful.
Anti-Cancer Properties of CoQ10
Exciting new research is showing that CoQ10 is
able to program cancer cells to self-destruct. This
finding was one of several from recent studies
conducted by researchers at the University of
Miami (FL) using CoQ10 in supplementation.
CoQ10 was found to change the genetic makeup
of the cancer cell, which allowed the cancer cell to
kill itself without harming normal cells.
Essentially, CoQ10 set off a natural process of
cell death of the cancer cells called apoptosis.
The genetic makeup of normal cells was not
affected.
I have observed this phenomenon clinically in
many of my cancer patients. This is why I have
always strongly recommended high dose CoQ10
for all my cancer patients. Dr. Peter Langsjoen
who is the head of the CoQ10 Society
International has reported case studies of women
who were sent home to die because of metastatic
breast cancer to bone and liver which went into
spontaneous remission just using CoQ10. Every
cancer patient needs to be taking high dose
CoQ10 (500 to 600 mg of powder form or 180 to
200 mg of gel form) along with a complete and
balanced antioxidant and mineral tablets.
Efficacy of a Mixture of Antioxidants
The use of individual antioxidants in cancer
patients produces varying results and only at very
high levels, which in the case of some may cause
significant toxicity. The lower doses of single
antioxidants have been shown to actually
increase tumor growth. However, when
researches looked at combining these antioxidant
nutrients, they were able to demonstrate a
marked inhibition of cancer cell growth. These
antioxidants were given at levels that if used
alone would produce no results or even enhance
the cancer growth. When individual antioxidants
were increased within the mixture, there was
further reduction of the cancer. These studies and
others are leading clinicians like me to
recommend mixtures of optimal doses of several
antioxidants and minerals and to push some of
the more potent antioxidants like Coquinone and
Proflavanol. Higher doses of vitamin E in the form
of d-alpha-tocopherol succinate may actually
increase the effectiveness of my recommendation
for cancer patients.
The Effectiveness of Antioxidants in
Combination with Standard Cancer Therapies
Most of the studies that have been performed with
single antioxidants both in the lab and within the
body have shown an enhancement of the
chemotherapeutic medications. However, there is
an occasional study which has shown a negative
effect when a single antioxidant is used with a
particular chemotherapeutic drug, i.e. synthetic
beta-carotene and 5-FU. When these same
antioxidants are used in combination with several
other antioxidants, there is only enhancement of
the effectiveness of the drugs.
Most oncologists and radiation therapists remain
skeptical of using antioxidant vitamins with their
patients who are receiving standard cancer
therapies. Since both the chemotherapeutic drugs
and radiation use the production of excessive free
radicals to destroy or inhibit the growth of the
tumor, they are worried that the cancer cells will
be more resistant to their treatments. However,
except for a rare situation where only a single
antioxidant is used, this does not hold true when
you examine the medical studies that are
available. In fact, just the opposite occurs. Those
cancer patients receiving standard cancer
therapies who are also taking a combination of
antioxidant vitamins and their supporting nutrients
actually have significantly better results than
those patients who simply take the standard
therapies. In other words, the effect of a mixture
of antioxidants in combination with tumor
therapeutic agents will greatly enhance the
survival rates of these patients. This is the exact
opposite result that these physicians would
expect. Why is this happening?
The medical literature is showing us that
antioxidant supplements actually protect the
normal cells while at the same time making the
cancer cells more vulnerable to the traditional
cancer therapies. These findings can be attributed
to the fact that cancer cells accumulate these
antioxidants, at very high levels because of the
cancer cells' altered feedback mechanism that
has gone awry. This excessive intracellular
accumulation of these antioxidant vitamins affects
many of the biochemical events in the cancer
cells:
1. Suppressing many of the growth
stimulating signals of these cancer cells
2. Cell differentiation
3. Enhancing effect on synthesis and
secretion of growth factor-Beta and protein-
21, both of which are powerful inhibitors of
cell growth
4. Setting off natural cell death (apoptosis) as
in the case of CoQ10
In lay terms, the cancer cells just keep taking up
the antioxidants to very high levels. So instead of
protecting these cancer cells, they actually inhibit
their growth and proliferation, which at the same
time leads to increased cell death. When they are
used with standard chemotherapeutic treatments,
they actually enhance the effectiveness of these
therapies.
The Other Great Benefit of Antioxidants:
Reduction of the Toxicity of Standard Cancer
Therapies
Normal cells are actually protected from the toxic
effects of these standard cancer treatments
because normal cells will not take excessive
amounts of antioxidants. They will, however, be
able to build up their natural antioxidant defense
systems so that they are performing at optimal
levels. Here are just a few of the positive benefits
found in the medical literature:
1. Vitamin E reduces bleomycin-lung fibrosis,
adriamycin-induced cardiac toxicity, and
skin necrosis. Vitamin E also has been
shown to protect normal cells from
radiation damage.
2. Coenzyme Q10 has also been shown to
protect against adriamycin-induced cardiac
toxicity.
3. Beta-carotene reduces the adverse effects
of radiation and some chemotherapeutic
drugs.
Since most of the side effects caused by the
standard cancer therapies are caused by the
excessive free radicals they produce, it only
makes common sense that cancer patients using
nutritional supplements would tolerate these
medications better and recover from their
treatments quicker. This has truly been my clinical
experience. When patients follow my nutritional
supplement recommendations for cancer found
on my web site, they have had very positive
experiences. I remember when a 21-year-old girl
told me that she had gone into remission after
receiving her standard cancer therapy. Her
oncologist came over to her and said, “What are
you taking?” She asked "Why?" He said, “I have
been watching you for weeks, and you are over
here reading your magazines when all of my other
patients are vomiting out their guts. Not only are
you now in remission, but you did so well
throughout the treatments.” She informed him that
she has been on a high-quality, complete and
balanced nutritional supplement. I have heard this
kind of story dozens of times with my patients.
The review of the medical literature has just
convinced me even more now that what I have
been recommending is correct.
This is a very emotional topic among physicians
and patients alike. Many patients will blindly follow
their doctors’ recommendations because they are
dealing with a life-threatening disease. I have
focused this newsletter solely on the decision of
whether patients with cancer should take
supplements while receiving standard cancer
therapies. My advice to my patients is to start the
recommended nutritional supplements as soon as
they have been diagnosed with cancer. This
allows them time to begin to build up their own
antioxidant defense system (even a week or two
prior to starting treatments is beneficial). They
should not take single antioxidants. They need to
take a product that is complete and balanced.
Then they can push the amount of CoQ10 and
grape seed extract that they take.
I personally believe that someday in the future (it
may take 10 to 15 years) everyone who is
diagnosed with cancer will be encouraged by their
physician to take high-quality complete and
balanced nutritional supplements. They not only
help their bodies fight the cancer, but will enhance
their therapies and help protect the patient from
the treatments' horrible side effects.
If you are trying to help a family member or a
friend who has been diagnosed with cancer, I
would encourage you to show them this
newsletter and my specific nutritional
recommendations for cancer patients found on my
web page. If they want the medical references on
which I based this newsletter, have them get a
copy of the following review article from their local
medical library, usually found in their hospital.
High Doses of Multiple Antioxidant Vitamins:
Essential Ingredients in Improving the Efficacy of
Standard Cancer Therapy
Kedar N. Prasad, Ph.D., Arun Kumar, M.D., Vinod
Kochupillai, M.D., and William C. Cole, Ph.D.
Center for Vitamins and Cancer Research,
Department of Radiology, School of Medicine,
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center,
Denver, CO
Journal of the American College Of Nutrition,
Volume 18, Number 1, 13-25 (1999)
This article lists an additional 71 articles that
support their conclusions in its bibliography.
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