Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant that has the power to boost immune function, increase resistance to infection and protect against a wide range of diseases. But now, research at the National Institute of Health is beginning to suggest that vitamin C deserves a chance to find niche in the arsenal of anti-cancer therapies.

Vitamin C has different characteristics if given orally as opposed to intravenous. Studies suggest that even high doses of vitamin C given by mouth is poorly absorbed. While oral vitamin C boosts immunity and assists tissue repair, it is too weak to do much in killing or inhibiting cancer cells.

Vitamin C, given intravenous, interacts with iron and other metals to create hydrogen peroxide which damages the DNA and mitochondria of cancer cells, shutting down their energy supply (hydrogen peroxide is the drug that preferentially kills cancer cells while leaving normal cells unharmed). The only way to get high doses of vitamin C blood levels to the concentrations required to kill cancer cells, is to administer it intravenously.

When given by an experienced physician, following protocol, intravenous vitamin C is safe and well-tolerated, event at doses as high as 100,000 mg (100gm). A G6PD blood test must be draw and results received before any high dose infusions are given. Patients are started out at a low dosage and work their way up to the therapeutic level (the average being 50,000 mg vitamin C) which takes approximately 2-3 hours to infuse. Vitamin C can be safely administered while patients are undergoing chemo and radiation; in fact, the FDA-approved trial at the University of Kansas Medical Center, headed by Dr. Jeanne Drisko, Director, KU Integrative medicine, explicitly permits the co-administration of vitamin C with conventional treatments.