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BETHESDA, MARYLAND. It is now 27 years ago since two Scottish doctors (Cameron
and Campbell) reported remarkable results from treating terminal cancer patients
with high-dose intravenous vitamin C infusions. Their cause was later taken up
by two-time Nobel Prize winner Dr. Linus Pauling who persuaded the Mayo Clinic
to do their own study on the potential benefits of vitamin C. The study was
done in 1979 and concluded that vitamin C was of no value in the treatment of
terminal cancer. The Mayo researchers used 10 grams/day of oral vitamin C
supplementation rather than intravenous infusions. This, says Dr. Mark Levine
of the National Institutes of Health, was a crucial difference.
Dr. Levine and his colleagues have found that the body's absorption of orally
ingested vitamin C decreases as the dose increases. Thus while 80 per cent of a
100 mg dose is fully absorbed less than 50 per cent of a 1250 mg dose is
actually absorbed. Dr. Levine concludes that doses greater than 500 mg
contribute little to plasma or tissue stores. He also estimates that even at
doses of 1000 mg it is extremely difficult to achieve a blood plasma
concentration much above 100 micromol/L. Intravenous infusions, on the other
hand, can achieve plasma levels as high as 5000 micromol/L with a dose of 5 to
10 grams. Dr. Levine believes that these high vitamin C levels may indeed be
effective in combating cancer and urges further studies and clinical
trials.
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