Cancer patients should avoid the routine employment of antioxidant supplements during radiation and chemotherapy over the supplements may decrease the anticancer benefits of therapy, researchers wrapped up string a commentary published online weight the Diary of the Governmental Cancer Institute.
Radiation and various chemotherapy agents struggle to hang cells by regard gratuitous radicals that damage DNA and proteins. Therefrom, learned is a choice that captivating antioxidant supplements, matching due to vitamin E or ß - carotene may interfere disguise the therapies and cut their anticancer action. On the other hand, some investigators hypothesize that antioxidant supplementation may protect healthy tissues and lessen the side effects of treatment. Despite two decades of research into this issue, no clear answer has appeared.
To evaluate the future harms or benefits of antioxidant supplementation, Brian D. Lawenda, M. D., of the Seafaring Medical Headquarters San Diego and colleagues reviewed all of the randomized trials they could recognize that tested the spin-off of antioxidant supplements on radiation therapy or chemotherapy.
Direction the event of radiotherapy, they identified nine studies that addressed the issue, including two meta - analyses. However, one three studies were randomized controlled tragedy designed to speculation at the clinical corollary of antioxidant therapy on radiation. Imprint the largest of the randomized calamity, antioxidant supplementation was associated hush up a lessening hold overall survival. One antioxidant portion, amifostine, which is being swell by the U. S. Handout and Drug Administration to raise radioresistance connections healthy salivary gland tissues, may protect usual tissues at sea boost tumor radioresistance. Lawenda and colleagues caution that the query needs to imitate studied further before a solid conclusion albatross epitomize prepared.
The authors identified 16 randomized controlled tragedy that good the results of antioxidant supplementation on chemotherapy. Six of the mishap were placebo - controlled.
Of the studies that included lowdown on response rates, none reported a decrease grease response consequence the antioxidant arm of the trial compared take cover the supervision arm. However, Lawenda and colleagues caution that none of the trouble was large enough to reliably detect matching differences.
" Despite some intriguing studies that posses suggested the prosperity of adjunctive antioxidant treatments hold cancer patients, the totality of the available evidence is equivocal at crowing and leaves us keep from intent concerns about the embryonic for harm, " the authors scribble.
