Common vitamin hailed for cancer healing properties

New research has shown that a combination of vitamin C and the antibiotic Doxycycline could be key to killing cancer stem cells. 

Researchers found that the potent combination of the common vitamin and antibiotic was up to 100 times more effective at killing cancer stem cells than some other anti-cancer agents currently being trialled. 

The new study, published in the journal Oncotarget, builds on previous research, which revealed that pairing vitamin C with antibiotics can make it even more effective as a cancer-killing weapon. 

For the study, Doxycycline was administered to cancer stem cells in increasing doses over three months.

The researchers concluded that Doxycycline, which is commonly used to treat infections like acne and pneumonia, helped reduce the cells’ ability to switch fuel sources to survive.

However, the cells were still able to use glucose as a source of energy to grow and spread. 

To combat this, researchers followed up the course of Doxycycline with vitamin C and found they were able to remove the glucose from the cancer stem cells, essentially starving them to death. 

Study co-author Professor Michael Lisanti, of the Biomedical Research Centre at the University of Salford in the United Kingdom said that the results are promising.

“Our results indicate it is a promising agent for clinical trials, and as an add-on to more conventional therapies, to prevent tumour recurrence, further disease progression, and metastasis,” he said. 

Do you take vitamin C? Have you had cancer? How did you find the treatment process?