Boston Moonlight Do antioxidant supplements reduce the efficacy of cancer treatments? No. Do antioxidant supplements relieve some of the adverse effects of the harshest treatments ever devised by modern medicine? Yes. Do mainstream media outlets so much as let out a peep when this news is announced? You can fill in the answer on that one. In 2005 the word went out: Antioxidant supplements are dangerous when taken during cancer treatment. A team of researchers from Canada's Laval University Cancer Research Center found that long-term use of vitamin E supplements put head and neck cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy at higher risk of developing second primary cancer. Now, the authors freely admitted that the patients in the trial were already at high risk of second primary cancers. And the vitamin E supplements used were alpha-tocopherol - not the far more effective mixed-tocopherol form of the vitamin. (Imagine a doctor prescribing a treatment that combines four active ingredients that work beautifully together - but he mistakenly gives you a formula that contains only ONE of those active ingredients. That's the difference between mixed-tocopherols and alpha-tocopherol.) But these are annoying gray-area details the mainstream media can't be bothered with. So the headlines spread the word: Cancer patients put themselves in grave danger if they take vitamin E and other antioxidant supplements. Of course, the major media outlets also completely ignored 2004 research conducted by Charles Simone, M.MS., M.D., who cited multiple studies that demonstrated how antioxidant supplement use extended cancer patients' expected life spans while improving their quality of life. Dr. Simone is a medical and radiation oncologist who helped establish the Office of Alternative Medicine for the National Institutes of Health. Meanwhile, the Laval team continued to reassess their findings…with some surprising results. Later in 2005 they published another report that offered this useful note: "Supplementation with high doses of alpha-tocopherol and beta-carotene during radiation therapy could reduce the severity of treatment adverse effects." In fact, that's one of the key points made by Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D. (one of the foremost authorities on alternative cancer treatments) in his 2000 book "Antioxidants Against Cancer." Dr. Moss also outlines the ways in which antioxidants actually enhance the effectiveness of cytotoxic treatments, such as chemo and radiation. Which brings us to 2008, and yet another reassessment from the Laval team. In the April 1, 2008, issue of the International Journal of Cancer, the authors note that it was actually the COMBINED exposure to antioxidant supplements AND SMOKING that reduced the efficacy of radiation therapy. Ah, finally it's clear. Apparently, if you've got head and neck cancer, it's a very good idea to STOP SMOKING! Why? Because smoking interferes with the effectiveness of cytotoxic treatment. Gee - if only the researchers had recruited non-smoking patients in the first place and used mixed-tocopherols in the first place, THEN they would have had a first class study. And we also might have avoided all that confusion and mainstream media misinformation. If you're being treated for cancer, talk to your doctor or a trusted health care professional before adding new supplements to your daily regimen. Sources:
"A Randomized Trial of Antioxidant Vitamins to Prevent Second Primary Cancers in Head and Neck Cancer Patients" Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 97, No. 7, 4/6/05, jnci.oxfordjournals.org
"Randomized Trial of Antioxidant Vitamins to Prevent Acute Adverse Effects of Radiation Therapy in Head and Neck Cancer Patients" Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol. 23, No 24, 8/20/05, jco.ascopubs.org
"Interaction Between Antioxidant Vitamin Supplementation and Cigarette Smoking During Radiation Therapy in Relation to Long-Term Effects on Recurrence and Mortality: A Randomized Trial Among Head and Neck Cancer Patients" International Journal of Cancer, Vol. 122, No. 7, 4/1/08, interscience.wiley.com | 
