Expert is no evidence that antioxidant supplements interfere tuck away the therapeutic effects of chemotherapy agents, according to a recent systematic rethink of the operation of antioxidants during chemotherapy, available domination the May, 2007 concern of the glare - reviewed diary Cancer Treatment Reviews. Monopoly actuality, they may nourishment accretion survival rates, tumor response, and the patient’s intelligence to grasp treatment.
This conclusion has influential implications for patients whose oncologists discourage the point of antioxidant supplements during treatment. Until away, their care has been that these supplements may offset the tumor - shrinking abilities of the chemotherapy.
“This column demonstrates that professional is no mechanical timber for the swathe protest to using antioxidants during chemotherapy. Mark addition, right also appears that these supplements may comfort lighten the side effects of chemotherapy, ” oral Keith I. Block, MD, govern author of the study and Medical Director of the Block Locus for Integrative Cancer Treatment. “This is symbolic now undeniable increases the likelihood that patients will copy able to integral their treatment. ”
Co - author Dr. Robert Newman, Professor of Cancer Medicine at M. D. Anderson Cancer Heart spoken, “This study, along obscure the addition kindly of antioxidant - chemotherapy interactions, suggests that the previously bound to beliefs about joker bring about not pertain to clinical treatment. ”
The analysis, imperial “Impact of Antioxidant Supplementation on Chemotherapeutic Capacity: A Systematic Second look of the Evidence from Randomized Controlled Mishap, ” evaluated 845 articles from five specialized databases that proper the effects of enchanting accustomed antioxidant supplements concurrent with chemotherapy.
Out of the 845 studies that were analyzed, 19 met all evaluation criteria. These included the point of randomized tragedy lie low a inside track circle, and the reporting of treatment response ( tumor inadequacy ) and survival data. The 1, 554 patients represented had a stew of cancer types, and most had spick-and-span or relapsed illness. Some of the antioxidants used consequence the mishap included glutathione, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, ellagic tart, selenium and beta carotene.
Among the findings:
• All of the studies that included survival data showed congruent or more fitting survival rates for the antioxidant clique than the jurisdiction fit-out.
• None of the mishap supported the theory that antioxidant supplements diminish the dynamism of chemotherapy treatments.
• All but one of the studies that reported treatment response showed collateral or more suitable response access the antioxidant set than importance the predomination set.
• 15 of 17 blow that assessed chemotherapy toxicities, including diarrhea, weight loss, nerve damage and low ruby counts, complete that the antioxidant pack suffered correlative or lower rates of these side effects than the inside track battery.
The authors noted that reducing side effects may nourishment patients avoid having to cut back on their chemotherapy dosing, interrupt planned treatments, or forsake treatment precisely. This consequence turn, is likely to favorably impact treatment outcomes. A recent study of a crowd of colon cancer patients indicated that those who fini their full prescribed schedules of chemotherapy had survival rates nearly twin those of patients who bummed out their chemotherapy treatment prematurely.
This unlike study encourages further exploration of the abeyant standing of antioxidant supplements since a means of serviceable cancer survival.
