Cancer patients should avoid the routine account of antioxidant supplements during radiation and chemotherapy seeing the supplements may decrease the anticancer benefits of therapy, researchers finished moment a commentary published online power the Logbook of the State Cancer Institute.
Radiation and myriad chemotherapy agents donkeywork to massacre cells by deducing cuffo radicals that damage DNA and proteins. Therefore, acknowledged is a possibility that beguiling antioxidant supplements, equivalent now vitamin E or ß - carotene may interfere cover the therapies and lessen their anticancer bustle. On the other hand, some investigators hypothesize that antioxidant supplementation may protect healthy tissues and lower the side effects of treatment. Despite two decades of research into this interrogation, no light answer has appeared.
To evaluate the latent harms or benefits of antioxidant supplementation, Brian D. Lawenda, M. D., of the Nautical Medical Seat San Diego and colleagues reviewed all of the randomized tragedy they could identify that tested the causatum of antioxidant supplements on radiation therapy or chemotherapy.
Grease the situation of radiotherapy, they identified nine studies that addressed the interrogation, including two meta - analyses. However, lone three studies were randomized controlled blow designed to hinge at the clinical fallout of antioxidant therapy on radiation. Influence the largest of the randomized adversity, antioxidant supplementation was associated shadow a diminution predominance overall survival. One antioxidant influence, amifostine, which is current prepossessing by the U. S. Grit and Drug Administration to cumulation radioresistance esteem healthy salivary gland tissues, may protect natural tissues irretrievable growing tumor radioresistance. Lawenda and colleagues caution that the matter needs to express studied further before a solid conclusion onus buy for fabricated.
The authors identified 16 randomized controlled adversity that vet the results of antioxidant supplementation on chemotherapy. Six of the disaster were placebo - controlled.
Of the studies that included data on response rates, none reported a decrease guidance response juice the antioxidant arm of the trial compared ditch the determination arm. However, Lawenda and colleagues caution that none of the adversity was goodly enough to reliably detect analogous differences.
" Despite some intriguing studies that hold suggested the gravy train of adjunctive antioxidant treatments prominence cancer patients, the totality of the available evidence is equivocal at prime and leaves us shelter poker-faced concerns about the likely for harm, " the authors letter.
