High-Dose Vitamin C Infusion (IVC)
Fight cancer & feel good
A NOVEL CONCEPT
Sometimes you hit the jackpot. That’s how I felt when I read about high-dose vitamin C (IVC). IVC has been found to reduce cancer growth and metastasis while also making patients feel better.
In fact, several research studies investigating IVC for palliative care and chemo symptom relief found it to be very effective in reducing nausea, tumor pain, loss of appetite, and fatigue. How often does an anti-cancer treatment also make us feel good? Not very often.
Effective Levels of IVC
Minimum of 3 times a week
Treatment for 8-12 weeks
Approximately 75g - 100g per treatment, leading to plasmatic ascorbic acid (AA) levels of 20-30mM.
High-dose IVC has re-emerged as a potent anti-cancer agent over the past two decades, with several phase I and a few phase II clinical trials reporting high tolerability and safety with promising signs of efficacy in the treatment of various cancer types, either as monotherapy or as a combination therapy.
A 2021 research summary titled, “High-dose intravenous vitamin C, a promising multi-targeting agent in the treatment of cancer,” found in the Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research, is a must-read for all cancer patients. It analyzes dozens of existing studies including many clinical trials, and it provides site-specific information so you can easily find the information that is most relevant to you. My favorite part was figure 2 (a section of which is shown left) because it synthesizes the data on IVC used with standard care drugs into a single chart.
Some “wow” stats found in this study…
40% to 60% inhibition of tumor growth in the majority of cancer types.
50% to 90% reduction and/or impairment of metastasis formation.
Prof. Dr. Connie Jimenez, an author of this study, and Founder and Head of the OncoProteomics Laboratory, and Professor of “Translational OncoProteomics” at the Dept. Medical Oncology of the VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, will be joined me on my podcast to discuss her most recent work and this pivotal study.
Research Highlights
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A successful multi-layered approach for KRAS-Mutated colorectal cancer: the Fasting Mimicking Diet plus IVC plus Chemotherapy
This research took me a while to wrap my head around but once I got it, I was a big fan. Again and again, research proves that when we hit cancer through more pathways simultaneously, it translates to longer survival. This study uses calorie restriction via the FMD, and high-dose vitamin C (IVC), and chemotherapy to create a potent anti-cancer protocol.Here’s a breakdown of the super-smart but science-dense part…
1) They knew colorectal cancer (CRC) patients who had a KRAS mutation and also had low ferritin (iron) mRNA levels in their tumors, survived 3-5 years longer.
2) They showed that IVC’s anti-cancer benefits were limited by its up-regulation of heme-oxygenase-1 (HO-1), an enzyme that produces ferritin.
3) They showed that the FMD could reverse the HO-1 limitations on the IVC, allowing it to act as a stronger anti-cancer strategy.
When they put it all together, they got strongly positive (anti-cancer) results. See figure 5. Overall, FMD delays tumor progression and sensitizes a wide range of tumors to chemotherapy. When combined with IVC, FMD helps overcome the limitations of IVC and increases efficacy by reducing ferritin (iron) levels.
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Reduced breast cancer incidence by 23%, and lung cancer incidence by 28%.
This research review of previous studies, clinical trials and meta analyses pulls out some specific informative data:
Using diet alone, receiving enough vitamin C reduced breast cancer and lung cancer incidence. Further studies on the impact of IVC, did not find any association with prevention.
Studies of cancer patients found that IVC provided some patients with tumor reduction and regression. A Phase I trial for Pancreatic cancer showed a benefit which prompted a Phase II trial which does not have results yet.
There’s an interesting Phase II trial in Europe that includes IVC and doxycycline. This was interesting to me because Jane McLelland mentions this combination in her book, “How to Starve Cancer.” She used this combination, as well as other supplements and strategies to cure herself of stage 4 cervical cancer.
IVC is cited as co-adjunct in radiotherapy, carboplatin, paclitaxol, doxorubicin, methotrexate, and cisplatin.
Warning: IVC appears to protect breast cancer cells from tamoxifen, so patients using tamoxifen would not want to utilize this therapy.
The author wraps up the analysis by concluding that vitamin C’s efficacy depends on “cancer characteristics (presence of specific mutations, cancer type and grade, and conventional anti-cancer therapy received) and patient characteristics (diet, behaviors, renal dysfunction, genetics, and SNPs in SVCT transporters).” I see this pattern across many anti-cancer strategies. Our tumors and our bodies are unique, so it’s essential to understand our specific mutations and get as much information as possible so we can determine what adjunct therapies might work.
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4.2X the mean survival time of similar terminally ill patients.
This is an old study from 1976, but it’s the study that got people really interested in vitamin C. It’s included in many reviews, including the one to the left.It seems to me that after cancer mutates, it’s not surprising that it will react differently, so I see the vitamin C research done with prevention in mind as very different than research with terminally ill patients, which is the sample in this clinical trial.
“The results of a clinical trial are presented in which 100 terminal cancer patients were given supplemental ascorbate (vitamin C) as part of their routine management. Their progress is compared to that of 1000 similar patients treated identically, but who received no supplemental ascorbate. The mean survival time is more than 4.2 times as great for the ascorbate subjects (more than 210 days vs the control 50 days). Analysis of the survival-time curves indicates that deaths occur for about 90% of the ascorbate-treated patients at one-third the rate for the controls and that the other 10% have a much greater survival time, averaging more than 20 times that for the controls.”
NOTE: Dose was 10 g/day by intravenous infusion for about 10 days and orally thereafter. This was administered only after conventional forms of medicine were determined to offer no further benefit – patients were all heavily pre-treated with no other options remaining. In total, results were found to be highly significant with a P value of <<0.0001. Efficacy was found in all cancers researched including bronchus, colon, stomach, breast, kidney, bladder, rectum, ovary, and “other”. Eighteen patients of the 100 researched were still living after 400 days, which was the completion of the study.
It’s some pretty compelling results if you’re stage 4.
High-Dose Vitamin C
Infusion (IVC) Details
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Research indicates the critical importance of reaching and maintaining a very high dose of vitamin C to maximize results. Lower doses studied yielded less results or no results. Intravenous delivery of vitamin C (IVC) appears to be the most effective/powerful.
Effective doses of IVC appear to be in the 75g - 100g range leading to plasmatic ascorbic acid (AA) levels (Vitamin C) of 20-30mM. -
Daily administration of IVC is optimal but most clinical trials that cite efficacy and favourable clinical outcomes, administered IVC a minimum of 3 times a week, for at least 8 weeks.
Studies have found the IVC will stay in the tumor for 48 hours, so it makes sense that they would suggest a minimum of 3X /week schedule. This study found that plasma (blood) and liver levels for IVC return to normal within 16 hours, but it stays in a tumor for 48 hours. -
Some research suggests IVC works synergistically with the FMD. FMD was invented by Dr. Valter Longo, a biochemist and leading research scientist in the field of longevity and using calorie restriction to enhance health. He new book, Fasting Cancer, has been released in Italy and we are eagerly awaiting its arrival in the US.
Here is a link to PROLON, a commercial company that offers the FMD as a kit.
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This link will take you to the list of vitamin C trials associated with cancer at the website clinicaltrials.gov.
Please visit clinicaltrials.gov to explore opportunities for participating in clinical trials and to review results of clinical trials. Importantly, not all scientists upload their results to this website, but in general, it is a good source of information.
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“High-dose IVC is considered to have a relatively good safety profile providing that appropriate precautions are taken, although it also can cause serious side effects in some patients.
Vitamin C in gram doses is contraindicated in patients with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency due to risk of developing intravascular hemolysis.
For this reason, red blood cell G6PD screening is required before applying vitamin C therapy.
However, even when administered orally, vitamin C might induce hemolysis in patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.
On the other hand, because the metabolic end-product of vitamin C is oxalate, an acute oxalate nephropathy has been observed, especially when gram doses of IVC were given as a prolonged treatment in patients with chronic renal disease. It can also worsen iron overload in patients with hemochromatosis or those who receive repeated transfusions of concentrated red blood cells .
Who might benefit?
Cancers researched at University of Iowa showing strong responses to IVC when used with standard care:
Pancreatic (particularly strong evidence)
Glioblastoma
Non-small cell lung
Rectal
Cancer types with some positive research results from other studies:
Breast
Colon
Hepatocellular carcinoma
Malignant mesothelioma
Melanoma
Neuroblastoma
Oral squamous cell carcinoma
Ovarian cancer
Prostate cancer
Thyroid cancer
Patients looking for palliative care show benefits to quality of life.
Patients taking immune checkpoint inhibitors and immunomodulatory agents such has cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated protein 4 receptor and programed death (PD-1) programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) blockers.
Several studies have shown that high-dose vitamin C does not increase toxicity levels in patients and it will protect healthy cells from other treatment side-effects when used as an adjuvant agent (in combination with standard care treatment).
Talk to your doctor about your specific risks.
Vitamin C in gram doses is contraindicated in patients with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency due to risk of developing intravascular hemolysis.
IVC may be contraindicated for patients with renal dysfunction. While rare, some patients may experience kidney stones.
Do your research and talk to your doctor to see if it might benefit you.
Prof., Dr. Connie Jimenez
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Connie Jimenez is full Professor of Translational OncoProteomics, Principle Investigator of the OncoProteomics Laboratory and Director of the Proteomics Core Resource, all at Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
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She is a biologist who pioneered neuropeptide profiling of single neurons by mass spectrometry during her PhD studies in the early 90s at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. Since her postdoc at UCSF, San Francisco in the laboratory of Prof. Al Burlingame, she has been working on biological and biomedical applications of proteomics.
In 2006, she founded the OncoProteomics Laboratory (www.oncoproteomics.nl) with a start-up grant of the Cancer Center Amsterdam. Her lab’s mission is to apply innovative mass spectrometry-based proteomics and data analysis to obtain systems biology insights into disease and to improve early diagnostics and treatment, most notably of cancer and neurodegenerative disease.
Dr. Jimenez founded the Netherlands Proteomics Platform in 2001 and since then serves as a member of the steering group. She was elected Human Proteome Organisation (HUPO) Council member from 2013-2016 and is co-chair of the HUPO Cancer Initiative. Furthermore, she is currently elected Vice-President of EuPA (2020-2023) and chair of the EuPA Mentoring Committee. She (co-)authored over 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers and is editorial board member of five major proteomics journals. She won the HUPO Translational Proteome Science award in 2022.