Adding high-dose vitamin C doubled survival for late stage pancreatic cancer patients

Cancer of the pancreas (yellow) has poor 5-year survival – Image credit Cancer Research UK

CANCER DIGEST – Nov. 23, 2024 – Adding high-dose intravenous vitamin C to a standard chemotherapy regimen doubled the survival time for patients with late-stage pancreatic cancer, a new study shows.

The study led by Joe Cullen, MD and Kellie Bodeker, PhD of the University of Iowa involved an early stage clinical trial with 34 patients with stage 4 pancreatic cancer that had spread to other tissues in the body. The patients were randomly assigned to receive standard chemotherapy or chemotherapy plus infusions of high-dose vitamin C. The results were published in the November 2024 issue of the journal Redox Biology. 

Patients in the trial were given standard combination chemotherapy using gemcitabine and nabpaclitaxel or the chemotherapy plus high dose vitamin C administered through an IV. The results showed that those in the standard chemotherapy regimen survived an average of eight months compared to 16 months for the patients given the chemo plus vitamin C.

“Not only does it increase overall survival, but the patients seem to feel better with the treatment," Cullen said in a press release. “They have less side effects, and appear to be able to tolerate more treatment, and we've seen that in other trials, too.” 

Patients with advanced pancreatic cancer have poor 5-year survival, averaging less than eight months with treatment and even shorter without treatment. The incidence of pancreatic cancer is increasing in the U.S. with an estimated 66,440 newly diagnosed patients in 2024 according to the American Cancer Society. Only about 13 percent of those patients survive 5 years. Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer deaths in the US behind lung and colon cancer.

The use of vitamin C in a variety of cancer treatments has been under investigation for 20 years with mixed results. This new study confirms results of an earlier University of Iowa trial this year that show similar benefits of vitamin C  in brain cancer. That study showed adding vitamin C to chemotherapy and radiotherapy increased overall survival to 19.6 months compared to a historic average overall survival of 14.6 months.

A third small trial of the vitamin C and chemotherapy regimen in patients with non-small cell lung cancer is also underway led by the same University of Iowa researchers.

All three clinical trials were funded by grants from the National Cancer Institute.

Sources: University of Iowa press release, Redox Biology and the journal Clinical Cancer Research