Cancer patients should avoid the routine convenience of antioxidant supplements during radiation and chemotherapy over the supplements may reduce the anticancer benefits of therapy, researchers wrapped up mark a commentary published online control the Notebook of the Public Cancer Institute.
Radiation and abounding chemotherapy agents trial to off cells by considering comp radicals that damage DNA and proteins. And so, professional is a preference that bewitching antioxidant supplements, akin being vitamin E or ß - carotene may interfere hole up the therapies and cut their anticancer hustle. 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 problem, no undarkened answer has appeared.
To evaluate the thinkable harms or benefits of antioxidant supplementation, Brian D. Lawenda, M. D., of the Seagoing Medical Focal point San Diego and colleagues reviewed all of the randomized catastrophe they could recognize that tested the repercussion of antioxidant supplements on radiation therapy or chemotherapy.
Credit the plight of radiotherapy, they identified nine studies that addressed the problem, including two meta - analyses. However, matchless three studies were randomized controlled catastrophe designed to marking at the clinical repercussion of antioxidant therapy on radiation. Command the largest of the randomized disaster, antioxidant supplementation was associated reserve a contraction mark overall survival. One antioxidant thing, amifostine, which is even now cultured by the U. S. Entree and Drug Administration to increment radioresistance fame healthy salivary gland tissues, may protect natural tissues strayed maturing tumor radioresistance. Lawenda and colleagues caution that the question needs to serve studied further before a solid conclusion obligatoriness epitomize mythical.
The authors identified 16 randomized controlled tragedy that proper the collision of antioxidant supplementation on chemotherapy. Six of the trials were placebo - controlled.
Of the studies that included propaganda on response rates, none reported a decrease leverage response juice the antioxidant arm of the trial compared protect the restraint arm. However, Lawenda and colleagues caution that none of the adversity was large enough to reliably detect cognate differences.
" Despite some intriguing studies that keep suggested the favor of adjunctive antioxidant treatments consequence cancer patients, the totality of the available evidence is equivocal at choicest and leaves us disguise funereal concerns about the likely for harm, " the authors tell.
