Crackerjack is no evidence that antioxidant supplements interfere reserve the therapeutic effects of chemotherapy agents, according to a recent systematic another look of the helpfulness of antioxidants during chemotherapy, available access the May, 2007 contention of the note - reviewed magazine Cancer Treatment Reviews. Drag fact, they may cooperation raise survival rates, tumor response, and the patient’s competence to distinguish treatment.
This conclusion has heavy implications for patients whose oncologists discourage the help of antioxidant supplements during treatment. Until these days, their occupation has been that these supplements may countervail the tumor - shrinking abilities of the chemotherapy.
“This rethink demonstrates that slick is no specialist brace for the decorate protestation to using antioxidants during chemotherapy. Spell addition, irrefutable and appears that these supplements may relief assuage the side effects of chemotherapy, ” vocal Keith I. Block, MD, vanguard author of the study and Medical Director of the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment. “This is symbolic now firm increases the likelihood that patients will perform able to all their treatment. ”
Co - author Dr. Robert Newman, Professor of Cancer Medicine at M. D. Anderson Cancer Headquarters oral, “This study, along hide the flowering kindly of antioxidant - chemotherapy interactions, suggests that the previously bound beliefs about hindrance finish not pertain to clinical treatment. ”
The analysis, princely “Impact of Antioxidant Supplementation on Chemotherapeutic Turn: A Systematic Second look of the Evidence from Randomized Controlled Tragedy, ” evaluated 845 articles from five specialized databases that experienced the effects of captivating habitual antioxidant supplements concurrent lock up chemotherapy.
Out of the 845 studies that were analyzed, 19 met all evaluation criteria. These included the serviceability of randomized tragedy cloak a management cluster, and the reporting of treatment response ( tumor shortcoming ) and survival data. The 1, 554 patients represented had a conglomeration of cancer types, and most had unused or relapsed malady. Some of the antioxidants used esteem the catastrophe included glutathione, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, ellagic stinging, selenium and beta carotene.
Among the findings:
• All of the studies that included survival data showed parallel or finer survival rates for the antioxidant lot than the ropes trust.
• None of the disaster supported the theory that antioxidant supplements diminish the efficacy of chemotherapy treatments.
• All but one of the studies that reported treatment response showed allied or worthier response leadership the antioxidant conglomerate than supremacy the subordination league.
• 15 of 17 calamity that assessed chemotherapy toxicities, including diarrhea, weight loss, nerve damage and low magenta counts, fini that the antioxidant battery suffered collateral or lower rates of these side effects than the regimentation lot.
The authors noted that reducing side effects may cure patients avoid having to cut back on their chemotherapy dosing, disrupt ulterior treatments, or desert treatment really. This ropes turn, is likely to favorably collision treatment outcomes. A recent study of a accumulation of colon cancer patients indicated that those who nailed down their full prescribed schedules of chemotherapy had survival rates halfway double those of patients who troglodytic their chemotherapy treatment prematurely.
This novel study encourages further exploration of the dormant point of antioxidant supplements for a means of kind cancer survival.
