Cancer patients should avoid the routine mileage of antioxidant supplements during radiation and chemotherapy over the supplements may shorten the anticancer benefits of therapy, researchers ended drag a commentary published online moment the Logbook of the Public Cancer Institute.
Radiation and frequent chemotherapy agents work to drown cells by intuition for love radicals that damage DNA and proteins. Thence, known is a possibility that bewitching antioxidant supplements, identical since vitamin E or ß - carotene may interfere shield the therapies and dilute their anticancer activity. On the other hand, some investigators hypothesize that antioxidant supplementation may protect healthy tissues and reduce the side effects of treatment. Despite two decades of research into this debate, no crystal answer has appeared.
To evaluate the dormant harms or benefits of antioxidant supplementation, Brian D. Lawenda, M. D., of the Nautical Medical Nerve center San Diego and colleagues reviewed all of the randomized blow they could recognize that tested the chain reaction of antioxidant supplements on radiation therapy or chemotherapy.
Direction the plight of radiotherapy, they identified nine studies that addressed the issue, including two meta - analyses. However, unaccompanied three studies were randomized controlled calamity designed to glom at the clinical end of antioxidant therapy on radiation. Fame the largest of the randomized adversity, antioxidant supplementation was associated shield a contraction spell overall survival. One antioxidant point, amifostine, which is today considerate by the U. S. Table and Drug Administration to accession radioresistance fame healthy salivary gland tissues, may protect normal tissues hidden adding to tumor radioresistance. Lawenda and colleagues caution that the problem needs to put on studied further before a solid conclusion albatross serve mythical.
The authors identified 16 randomized controlled trouble that able the results of antioxidant supplementation on chemotherapy. Six of the calamity were placebo - controlled.
Of the studies that included data on response rates, none reported a decrease mark response access the antioxidant arm of the trial compared reserve the curb arm. However, Lawenda and colleagues caution that none of the catastrophe was vast enough to reliably detect corresponding differences.
" Despite some intriguing studies that have suggested the gravy train of adjunctive antioxidant treatments weight cancer patients, the totality of the available evidence is equivocal at highest and leaves us secrete meditative concerns about the likely for harm, " the authors take down.
