Orthomolecular Treatment of Cancer
By Abram Hoffer, M.D., Ph.D., FRCP(C)
Introduction
Between 1978 and March, 1999 I have seen over 1040
patients suffering from cancer who came to me for
nutritional and psychiatric counseling. This is no
longer a surprising combination as it was when I first
started to practice psychiatry in 1952. I attended my
first annual meeting of the American Psychiatric
Association in Los Angeles, in 1952. I did not meet
another psychiatrist there with a PhD in Biochemistry.
Since then many more scientists with the double
degrees have become active in this field but of these
very few actively pursue this particular combination.
Orthomolecular theory and practice drives these two
together. I have retained my interest in the
biochemistry and clinical aspects of nutrition
combining this with my education in medicine and later
in psychiatry. The recovery of my first patient in
1960 from terminal bronchiogenic cancer of the lung
arose from this coalescence of these two disciplines.
By 1960 my research group in Saskatchewan had
discovered the first biochemical substance that was
clearly related to the schizophrenias. Not knowing its
structure we called it the mauve factor until it was
later identified as kryptopyrrole. We tested thousands
of patients and found that over 75% of all
schizophrenic patients excreted this substance in
their urine. It was also present in about 25% of other
psychiatric groups, in about 10% of severely stressed
physically ill patients and in about 5% of normal
people but they were mostly first order relatives of
schizophrenic patients. It disappeared with recovery
of the patients no matter how they were treated. I was
particularly interested in the fact that out of eight
patients with cancer of the lung, this factor was
present in 5.
In 1960 a retired psychotic professor was admitted to
our psychiatric department at University Hospital in
Saskatoon. He had a bronchiogenic carcinoma of the
lung and when he became psychotic it was concluded he
had secondaries in his brain. He was placed on
terminal care, expected to die in a month or so.
Earlier he had been discharged to the care of his wife
and a nurse but after several weeks had to be
readmitted since they could not cope with his
behavior. As soon as I discovered he was on our ward I
had his urine collected and we tested it for the
factor. He excreted copious quantities which we were
able to use to help us identify the substance. I then
advised his resident to start him on niacin 1 gram
after each meal and on ascorbic acid 1 gram after each
meal. By then I knew that this combination of vitamins
used in megadoses was very helpful in treating any
patient with this factor in their urine no matter what
they were diagnosed. Fortunately for this patient the
resident accepted my advice (the patient was not under
my care but I was Director of Psychiatric Research at
the hospital). He was started on the two vitamins on
Friday afternoon and he was mentally normal by the
following Monday.
I knew this patient before he became ill as I had
treated his wife. After he had recovered I advised him
to remain on these two vitamins. In 1960 our research
unit was the only one in Canada, and perhaps in the
world, where 500 mg tablets of these vitamins were
available. They were specially made for us. If smaller
tablets were used in these large doses they would make
our patients sick because they contained so much
filler. I told him that if he would pick up a supply
each month I would give it to him free. This meant he
had to see me each month and this gave me the
opportunity of assessing his psychiatric state. I did
not expect he would recover from his cancer. He had
been told of his dismal prognosis and I did not
contradict that. To my surprise he kept on coming
back. About 12 months later I had lunch with the
Director of the Cancer Clinic which had been following
his case. He told me that the tumor had become less
and less visible with each X ray every three months
and that it was now no longer present. He lived about
30 months after he was diagnosed terminal. I had hoped
that when he died he would be autopsied at University
Hospital. Unfortunately he died at another hospital
and I did not hear this until several days later. He
did not die from his cancer.
Two years later a woman I had treated for depression
several years earlier consulted me again. This time
she was depressed because her 16-year-old daughter had
Ewings tumor (a highly malignant sarcoma) in one arm
and she was slated for surgery to amputate her arm.
This was the standard treatment. I told her about the
previous patient and his recovery and suggested that
although there was no evidence it would help it could
do no harm and might possibly be of some value. Her
daughter agreed to take niacinamide 1 gram after each
meal and ascorbic acid 1 gram after each meal. Her
surgeon agreed to postpone surgery for a month. She
recovered and the last time I heard from her family
she was married and leading a normal productive life,
with both arms. I concluded that vitamin B-3 was the
most important component and that the vitamin C was
helpful. In Saskatchewan under my direction we did the
first double blind controlled therapeutic trials in
Psychiatry, completing six by 1960. Therefore I was
aware of the powerful influence of placebo. However
when two terminal patients recovered on the vitamins
it became powerful evidence that there was more than
placebo at work.
I did not see any more cancer patients until 1977
after I had established my practice in Victoria, BC.
In British Columbia specialists will not accept
patients until they have been referred by their
general practitioners. As a psychiatrist I saw
patients referred with psychiatric problems but in
most cases the referring physicians would not indicate
why the referral had been made and I would only
discover the reason when I finally saw my patient.
A.S., an elderly woman appeared and when I asked her
why she had come she replied that she had cancer of
the head of the pancreas. She had developed jaundice.
Her surgeon discovered she had a large tumor in the
head of the pancreas which occluded her bile duct. He
promptly closed, created a by-pass, and when she
recovered from the anesthesia advised her that she had
about 3 to 6 months to live. She worked in a book
store. She had read Norman Cousins book Anatomy of an
Illness and thought that if he was able to take so
much vitamin C with safety she could too and she began
to take 10 grams each day. The next time she consulted
her doctor she told him what she was doing. He
referred her to me since he was familiar with my
interest in megadoses of vitamins. I reviewed her
program and increased her vitamin C to 40 grams daily
trying to reach the sublaxative level. I had been
using multi nutrients for my schizophrenic patients
for many years and since I had no idea which, if any,
of these vitamins might help I reasoned that she would
have a much better chance if she also were to take
more than one nutrient. I then added vitamin B-3,
selenium, and zinc sulfate. Six months later she
called me at home in great excitement. She had just
had a CT scan. No tumor was visible. The CT scan was
repeated by the incredulous radiologist. Her original
bile duct had reopened and now she had two. She
remained alive and well until she died February 19,
1999, nearly 22 years after she was told she would
die.
Rarely patients make a major contribution to medicine
by their interest in a disease and their willingness
to try innovative approaches. A.S's recovery changed
my professional career and I believe will make a major
contribution to the complementary treatment of all
cancer patients. Last year at a public meeting I
thanked her publicly when I discussed her case before
a meeting of Cancer Victors. She added that I had
changed her life as well. She has also changed the
life of hundreds of cancer patients who became
victors, not victims.
By telling her friends, relatives and customers about
her recovery she changed the nature of my practice.
That first year another five patients were referred.
The second case was a man with a sarcoma of the
prostate which was invading his pelvic bone. He was
advised no treatment was available. His doctor
referred him to me and I started him on a similar
program. But he was only able to take about 10 grams
of vitamin C daily. I asked his doctor if he would
mind injecting him with 10 grams of vitamin C twice
weekly. After six months his doctor wanted to know how
much longer would he need to receive his vitamin C. He
told me that the tumor was gone. He stopped the
injection. He lived another 9 years and died at age
80, but not from his cancer.
More patients were referred to me each year. At first
almost all of them were patient-generated and often it
took remarkable persuasive powers for the patient to
obtain the necessary referral. After assessing their
physical and mental state I would talk to them about
the therapeutic regimen. I outlined the program in
detail describing each nutrient and why I thought they
might be helpful. I added that there was no guarantee
that the vitamins would be helpful but gave them hope
by describing the cases who had had a dramatic
response. I added that the vitamin mineral program
would decrease the toxicity of the xenobiotic
treatment and would increase the efficacy of the
xenobiotic program. If they needed surgery they would
heal faster afterwards. If they needed chemotherapy
the program would make it more tolerable and less
painful and if they needed radiation the program would
decrease the intensity of the side effects of the
radiation and increase its efficacy. These comments
were based on the literature which was developing
rapidly. The program was designed to assist the body
in controlling the cancer and was not a direct assault
on the tumor. The attack on the tumor was carried out
by the other physicians including their family doctor,
the surgeons, the radiologist and oncologists. The
diagnosis of the cancer and the xenobiotic treatment
used was left entirely to the patient and their other
doctors. I did not advise them whether or not they
should take any other treatment. Very few did not
receive xenobiotic therapy. After describing the
program I would arrange to see them once more unless
they were very depressed and anxious, in which case I
would see them more often. A few of the patients had
been under my care before they developed their cancer
and I continued to see them. I then sent a
consultation report to each referring physician. After
the second interview they were returned to the care of
their family physicians. I had not planned on doing
any follow up but after several years when I had
treated about 50 patients I became aware that the
patients who had followed the regimen consistently for
at least two months lived much longer than the
patients who did not start the program or did not take
it for at least two months.
About this time I went to a Festchrift for Dr. Arthur
Sackler at Woods Hole, Mass. We met in 1951 when I was
starting our research program. He and his brothers
were practicing in mid-Manhatten. They were probably
the first orthomolecular psychiatrists in the United
States. They were treating schizophrenic patients by
injecting them with histamine. After I returned home I
repeated their studies and found that their
observations were correct. Out of twelve patients I
treated using their regimen 8 became normal. The
treatment was difficult since they had to be given
increasing amounts of subcutaneous histamine until
their diastolic pressure decreased to 0. It was
amazing to see how comfortable they could be with that
low blood pressure. Treatments were given daily on
week days until the series was completed. I did not
continue this series because by this time I was using
megadoses of vitamin B-3 which was much easier to
administer and equally effective. The histamine flush
was identical with the niacin flush. At that meeting
Dr. Linus Pauling delivered a vigorous and careful
critique of the Mayo Clinic's attempt to repeat the
studies he had done with Dr. Ewan Cameron in Scotland.
The Mayo group claimed they had exactly repeated these
studies but it was clear on reading their paper that
they had not. Dr. Pauling did not object to their
negatives findings. He objected to their statement
that their conclusions resulting from a different
method of administering the vitamin C were used to
condemn his and Camerons findings. In other words no
scientist can claim to confirm or deny any study
unless they really have repeated the original work as
described by the original authors.
The next morning, after breakfast, I visited Linus
Pauling who was staying in the room next to mine. When
I walked in he was busy with a hand calculator. He
told me he was working out the electron orbitals
saying that he did not understand them unless he did
the calculations himself. I told him that on the basis
of my fifty patients I had concluded that he and
Cameron were right, that vitamin C in large doses did
improve enormously the outcome of treatment for
cancer. Linus asked me if I intended to publish the
data. I replied that I did not. I added that in my
opinion there was little point in trying to do so
since it would be impossible to gain entry into any
medical journal, that they would not accept any paper
that dealt favorably with megadose vitamin therapy.
The New England Journal of Medicine, which had
published the Mayo Clinic attack on Pauling, refused
to publish his rebuttal. Linus urged me to do a
complete follow up study of every patient I had
treated. I was flattered and agreed that I would. He
said that he would see that the material would be
published. But when I returned home I decided not to
do the follow up. It would have meant an enormous
amount of work. I thought that Dr. Pauling was being
kind to me. Two years later I received a letter from
Linus in which he said bluntly "Abram where is the
study". I decided that he was serious about it. By
then I had seen 134 patients. I apologized and
promised to start the follow up immediately. I traced
every patient and determined whether they were alive,
where they were, and what had happened to their lives.
I contacted the patients, their families, their
doctors, the cancer clinic where nearly all of them
had been seen and treated. The Cancer Clinic in
Victoria did a good job of investigation, diagnosis
and treatment using only xenobiotic therapies.
Dr. Pauling developed an elegant method for
determining the probable outcome of treatment using
cohorts of patients who were or were not treated.
After I had completed the follow up I sent the case
histories, with identification of each patient
removed, and the follow up study. We decided to use
the duration of life as the only variable. This began
when they first saw me and ended with the day of their
death. There is increasing evidence that this hard
measure of success is much more useful than trying to
decide whether the tumor is slightly smaller or not.
Patients have lived for a long time with slowly
growing tumors. We agreed to publish as coauthors.
I suggested that the first paper would be by Pauling and
Hoffer. This was because it was his original idea to
use megadoses of vitamin C and the work I had done was
merely to test his conclusions. He was very firm that
he would not consider this and insisted it would
appear as Hoffer and Pauling. I think he felt that as
a clinician who had done the clinical work I should be
the senior author. He did not have an MD. Linus
Pauling, in my opinion, was the most brilliant
humanitarian scientist that ever lived. Over his life
time in addition to his two Noble Prizes, he was
awarded nearly 40 Honorary degrees, PHD's and DSc's. I
am sorry he was never given an Honorary MD. His
contribution to human health has surpassed that of
most physicians. We wrote the paper using his method
for analyzing the data and my clinical material. But
the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
refused to accept the paper. One of the criticisms of
our paper came from some rumor, which had reached the
critic that I had solicited patients to come to be
seen, implying I had selected only the best prognostic
patients. On the contrary I had nothing to do with the
selection and I included every patient who had been
referred. Eventually we published in the Journal of
Orthomolecular Medicine. I am the editor and I could
not refuse to accept our work. That original paper was
reprinted in the book by Ewan Cameron and Linus
Pauling Cancer and Vitamin C. Updated and Expanded.
Camino Books Inc, P.O. Box 59026, Philadelphia, PA
19102. 1993. Appendix IX is this report.
We began to write a book. My case load was building
very quickly and I published a second paper with Dr.
Pauling and several more after that on my own. We
finished most of the book except for much of the
detailed clinical material but we could not find a
publisher in the United States willing to publish it.
The topic was still too controversial. I found a
Canadian Publisher, Quarry Press, Kingston, ONT. A few
months ago I sent him the completed manuscript. This
contains all the original material Dr. Pauling had
written dealing with each type of cancer and a
presentation of my data based on nearly 800 patients.
We concluded in our manuscript that the optimum
treatment for cancer today is a combination of
xenobiotic and orthomolecular therapy and that
treatment must be started as soon as possible. This
book will be available presently. Here are the early
references.
Hoffer A & Pauling L: Hardin Jones biostatistical
analysis of mortality data for cohorts of cancer
patients with a large fraction surviving at the
termination of the study and a comparison of survival
times of cancer patients receiving large regular oral
doses of vitamin C and other nutrients with similar
patients not receiving those doses. J Orthomolecular
Medicine 5:143-154, 1990. Reprinted in, Cancer and
Vitamin C, Updated and Expanded E Cameron and L
Pauling, Camino Books, Inc. P.O. Box 59026, Phil. PA,
19102, 1993.
Hoffer A & Pauling L: Hardin Jones biostatistical
analysis of mortality data for a second set of cohorts
of cancer patients with a large fraction surviving at
the termination of the study and a comparison of
survival times of cancer patients receiving large
regular oral doses of vitamin C and other nutrients
with similar patients not receiving these doses. J of
Orthomolecular Medicine, 8:1547-167, 1993.
Hoffer A: Orthomolecular Oncology. In, Adjuvant
Nutrition in Cancer Treatment, Ed. P Quillin & RM
Williams. 1992 Symposium Proceedings, Sponsored by
Cancer Treatment Research Foundation and American
College of Nutrition. Cancer Treatment Research
Foundation, 3455 Salt Creek Lane, Suite 200, Arlington
Heights, IL 60005-1090, 331-362, 1994.
Hoffer,A. Orthomolecular Treatment of Cancer. In
Nutrients in Cancer Prevention and Treatment. Ed.
Prasad,KN, Santamaria,L & Williams RM. Pages 373-391,
1995, Humana Press, Totowa, New Jersey.
One Patient's Recovery From Lymphoma. Townsend Letter
for Doctors and Patients. #160 , 50-51, 1996
A new book just arrived by Burton Goldberg, edited by
W.John Diamond, W. Lee Cowden with Burton Goldberg,
Alternative Medicine Definitive Guide to Cancer.
Future Medicine Publishing, Inc. Tiburon,
California.1997. In this valuable book 37 physicians
including myself, describe the alternative methods
they use with clinical descriptions of some of the
results they have obtained. I prefer the term
complementary to alternative and expect that soon all
medicine will be complementary and that physicians
using only xenobiotic methods will be the exception.
Review of Previous Reports and Present Summary.
The use of large doses of nutrients for the treatment
of cancer has not yet entered the mainstream of
medicine, not in the Universities, nor in the medical
journals, or in the wards, halls and corridors of
hospitals. But it is beginning to do so, largely due
to the persistence and dedication of Professor Linus
Pauling. He needed forums in which to outline his
views and these were provided for him by the
physicians and other interested individuals. The
Canadian Schizophrenia Foundation was honored to host
Linus Pauling on three separate occasions, in Toronto
and in Vancouver. About the same time the National
Cancer Institute held a meeting in September 1990.
This was not a clinical meeting. No one presented
clinical data showing what nutrients might do. At this
meeting Dr. Linus Pauling and two associates presented
their findings. Dr. Pauling commented at that meeting
"It is very interesting to be here since, for some ten
years or so, you have refused every request of mine
for research grants on vitamin C". The Proceedings,
National Academy of Sciences (US) refused to publish
any clinical papers authored by Dr. Linus Pauling. The
first paper, by Hoffer and Pauling, was rejected.
During May 10-12, (1991) Jay Patrick, President,
Alacer Corporation, hosted a meeting- the Second World
Congress on Vitamin C and The Immune System, in San
Diego, Bahia Resort Hotel. He had hosted the First
World Congress on Vitamin C in 1978 in Palm Springs.
That one was addressed by Dr. Szent-Gyorgyi who won
the Noble Prize for his work on vitamin C and
intermediary metabolism, by Dr. Linus Pauling, and by
Dr. Fred Klenner, the first physician to use megadoses
of vitamin C. The Second World Congress brought
together a distinguished group of vitamin researchers
and clinicians including Dr. E. Cheraskin, Dr. C.A.B.
Clemetson, Dr. E. Ginter, Dr. J. Priestly, and others.
Their papers were published in the Journal of
Orthomolecular Medicine Volume 6, 1991.
I also presented a report on the clinical procedures I was
then using in treating the terminally ill cancer
patients with Vitamin C. Dr. Linus Pauling presented
an excellent outline of his research into vitamin C
and Cancer but his presentation was not published. Dr.
Pauling was an excellent speaker, very honest, and
very blunt. The following quotation from his paper
will convey some of the flavor of his presentations.
"When Irvine Stone wrote to me in 1965, after having
heard me give a talk in which I said that I would like
to live 25 years longer in order to enjoy reading
about the new discoveries about the nature of the
world that no doubt would be made by scientists during
these 25 years and said if I were to take three grams
a day of Vitamin C, I would perhaps not only live the
25 years but even 50 years. And that was when I
increased my uptake ot ascorbate fifty fold to 3,000
milligrams a day, then later to a hundredfold, 6000,
then to two hundredfold, then to three hundredfold and
I'm still not sure what the optimum intake is. There
is a practical reason why I stopped at three
hundredfold at 18,000. Well, I think that's pretty
important. I read a statement by physicians that they
should tell their patients not to worry about being
constipated. I think they should worry about being
constipated, its so harmful to carry waste toxic
materials around an unnecessarily long period of time.
So, it was Irwin Stone that got me interested in
Vitamin C and of course, it was Victor Herbert who was
responsible for my having begun writing books about
vitamins".
So the other day I got a book published by
the National Academy of Sciences on control of
diseases. It mentions practically nothing about
vitamins and their usefulness but it does have
something about common colds. A statement that 16
control trials have been turned out, every one of
which showed that Vitamin C has no value in
controlling the common cold, preventing or controlling
the common cold. They didn't listen, but I'm sure
they're the 16 control trials that I discuss in my
books, where I give the amount of decrease in illness.
Every one of these shows that Vitamin C has value, not
that it doesn't have value. That's perhaps a minor
misrepresentation. A couple of years ago, I got two or
three letters from people who sent me clippings from a
magazine. One of them said he had stopped taking his
Vitamin C because of the statement in this magazine.
It was a quotation from the Professor of Medicine at
Yale University Medical School. I had mentioned, three
or four weeks ago, while speaking in Yale University
Medical School, his statement that you shouldn't take
as much as even one gram of Vitamin C per day because
it will damage the liver. So I wrote to him and said
that I read the literature on Vitamin C to the extent
that I can, and there are a couple of thousand new
papers published every year about Vitamin C, but I
missed the meal. Would you please send me the
references to the work done on the damage done to the
liver. Well, he was a gentleman, which you'd expect at
Yale Medical School and often when I write letters
like that I don't get an answer from them. He wrote
back saying oh, that was just a mistake. That was the
end of that. So far as I know he didn't write to the
magazine and say that was a mistake, but he did say it
to me. And there are lots of mistakes of this sort
about vitamins that perhaps sometimes intentionally
misrepresent the facts. For some perhaps there is a
reason an economic, financial reason, that there is so
much opposition in the medical establishment against
improving your health by taking vitamins."
This first symposium which included laboratory and
medical scientists was one of the first with this mix
of clinical and preclinical data. The number attending
was not very large but they made up in quality for the
lack of numbers. There I met Dr. Patrick Quillin, Vice
President of Nutrition, Cancer Treatment Centers of
America. He was thinking about organizing a conference
to consider the connection between nutrition and
cancer. I thought it was an excellent idea and
encouraged him to do so. The first symposium was held
in Tulsa, Oklahoma, November 6 to 8, 1992. The title
of the meeting was Adjuvent Nutrition in Cancer
Treatment. Over 300 physicians and others attended.
Participating were seven Universities, more than 6
cancer institutes. The last half day of the symposium
was taken up by clinical studies including my report,
and a report from Prof Rudy Falk, University of
Toronto Medical School. This was the first meeting
were both the academic physicians and orthomolecular
physicians met in an amicable and interesting exchange
of information. The meeting was co- sponsored by the
Cancer Treatment Research Foundation and the American
College of Nutrition, and published as a proceedings.
In my presentation at the Tulsa Conference I described
how I became involved in the treatment of patients
with cancer. My preliminary data indicated that the
addition of vitamin C in mega doses improved the
outcome of treatment substantially. I described these
findings to Linus Pauling. He urged me to follow up
carefully every patient I had seen and offered to
analyze the follow up data using the method he had
developed. In our two recent studies, Hoffer and
Pauling concluded that the addition of vitamin C
improved the outcome of treatment for cancer
significantly and substantially. In the first study
134 patients seen between August 1977 and March 1988
were followed until December 31, 1989. We concluded
that orthomolecular treatment given to female related
cancers had improved life expectancy about 20 times
compared to our non random controls and 12 times for
other cancers. In our second paper a second cohort of
170 patients seen between April 1988 to December 31,
1989 was followed to December 31, 1992. These results
were about the same as those we had published earlier.
We concluded that while vitamin C alone led to about
10 % excellent responders the addition of the other
nutrients increased this to about 40 %.
Orthomolecular treatment improves the quality of life.
It also decreases the side effects of radiation and
chemotherapy. The program is palatable. The only
patients who could not follow it were those who were
getting chemotherapy and suffered severe nausea and
vomiting or patients who could not swallow because of
lesions in their throat. Orthomolecular therapy
provides a step forward in the battle against cancer
and must be fully explored. There can be no logical
reason today why most of the research funds should go
only toward the examination of more chemotherapy and
more ways of giving radiation. There must be a major
expansion into the use of orthomolecular therapy to
sort out the variables and to determine how to improve
the therapeutic outcome of treatment.
Hoffer A: Orthomolecular Medicine for Physicians.
Keats Publising, New Canaan, CT, 1989.
Pauling, L: Biostatistical analysis of mortality data
for cohorts of cancer patients. Proceedings National
Academy Sciences, USA 86:3466-3488,1989.
Pauling, L and Herman, Z: Criteria for the validity of
clinical trials of treatments of cohorts of cancer
patients based on the Hardin Jones principle.
Proceedings National Academy Science, USA 86:6835-6837,1989.
Anti Cancer Nutrition
A large number of special diets ranging from fasting
(water only) to juice fasts to low fat and sugar free
diets are used. Every one of the special diets have
proponents who think they are very helpful, and
patients who have been helped by them but no one has
ever conducted an experiment to compare all the diets
to determine which is the best. Perhaps there will
never be a "best". Because of the individuality of
people it may turn out that each person will have to
determine what is their own best diet. In my book
Hoffer's Laws of Natural Nutrition Quarry Press,
P.O.Box 1061, Kingston, Ontario K7L 4Y5. Almost all
the diets used by complementary therapists are lower
in animal proteins, much more vegetarian, with
emphasis on vegetables rich in bioflavonoids and
fruits. I advise my patients to obey three rules (1)
To eliminate all junk food i.e,. food containing any
added simple sugars like table sugar or glucose as in
corn syrup. This simple rule, comprehensible even to
children, will eliminate nearly 90% of the additives
commonly added to processed foods. (2) To reduce fat
levels, I think that dairy products are the chief
villains. Nearly every study internationally has shown
that countries with lower fat intake have fewer cases
of cancer, particularly breast cancer. Milk is very
rich in estrogens from the cow and in phytoestrogens
from the grass that they eat.(3) To eliminate all
foods they know they are allergic to. These rules
allow the diet to be varied, palatable and
interesting.
Vitamin Supplements
No one should take any supplements until they have
become familiar with their properties and how to use
them. It is advisable always to work with a
knowledgeable physician. But if they can not find any
physician or orthomolecular nutritionist they should
go ahead on their own using the information now
readily available on nutrition and vitamin
supplements. They should advise their doctors what
they are doing and which supplements they are using.
By listing the vitamins and dose ranges I am not
suggesting that every person need to take them all.
This is an individual matter based on discussions with
their doctor. The vitamin and mineral supplements are
compatible with medication and with the diet.
Vitamin C. The dose range is anywhere from 3 to 40
grams daily in three divided doses. If the dose is too
high it will not be absorbed by the intestines, will
stay in the bowel and act like a laxative causing
loose stools and gas. It is a good laxative. The best
dose does not act like a laxative. Forms of vitamin C
include the pure ascorbic acid (hydrogen ascorbate),
and the mineral salts such as sodium ascorbate
(slightly salty in taste), calcium ascorbate (slightly
bitter), and other salts often found in combinations
of the mineral ascorbates, In large doses it is best
used as the powder dissolved in water or one of the
juices. Do not use commercial grade vitamin C crystals
of powders. Use CP grades as is found in drug stores
or health food stores. Contrary to false rumors issued
by some hostile critics of megadose vitamin use it
does not cause kidney stones, does not cause
pernicious anemia, does not cause sterility. A recent
suggestion in a letter, to Nature, published in
England concluded that more than 500 milligrams of
vitamin C daily could cause DNA damage. This was based
on one of a possible 20 markers that could have been
used which showed no damage and a 21st marker which is
seriously questioned. Some of the key scientists in
this field criticized these conclusions. My only
comment is that if they were correct why do my
patients who take large doses of vitamin C live so
much longer.
Vitamin B-3. There are two forms. Niacin lowers
cholesterol, elevates high density lipoprotein
cholesterol and reduces the ravages of heart disease,
but causes flushing when it is first taken. The
flushing reaction dissipates in time and in most cases
is gone or very minor within a matter of weeks.
Niacinamide, the other form, has no effect on blood
fats (lipids) but is not a vasodilator. There have
been 7 international conferences on the theme niacin
and cancer. This vitamin is an essential component of
the enzyme systems that repair broken DNA molecules.
The dose ranges from 100 milligrams three times daily
to 1000 milligrams three times daily. Several studies
in Detroit have found that the response rate of cancer
around the head and neck was 10% on radiation alone
but increased to 80% when patients were given large
doses of niacinamide. Very rarely niacin will cause
obstructive jaundice which clears when the niacin is
stopped. For details see my book Orthomolecular
Medicine for Physicians.
Vitamin E (d alpha tocopherol succinate). This water
soluble form has the greatest efficacy in controlling
cancer cell growth in the test tube and is the one I
recommend should be used. The dose ranges from 400 to
1200 International Units daily. Vitamin E is the major
fat soluble anti- oxidant in the body and plays a role
by decreasing the concentration of free radicals which
are thought to be involved in the creation of the
cancer. It also decreases the risk of heart disease,
thus confirming what was found over fifty years in
Ontario by Drs. Wilfrid and Evan Shute.
The Carotenoids. Most people have heard of beta
carotene but this is only one of a large number of
carotenoids which are present in colored vegetables
and fruits such as carrots, beets, tomatoes and
greens. The evidence is very powerful that these mixed
carotenoids as found in these foods will decrease the
incidence of cancer but there is a question about the
efficacy of the pure beta carotene. There is still a
vigorous debate about this. I prefer carrot juice to
the beta carotene. Generally it is better to have a
large variety of these natural anti cancer factors.
Beta carotene is very safe. The only question is
whether it is the best form. Only a small portion is
converted into vitamin A.
Folic acid. Several studies have found this important
vitamin has anti cancer properties, for cancer of the
cervix and of the lung in lung smokers. This does not
mean it is safe to smoke. It does mean that smokers
should take it and immediately start their campaign to
stop smoking. Women should take ample amounts to
prevent neural tube disorders such as spina bifida.
The US government plans to add it to flour. Canada is
still thinking about it. The dose range is from 1 to
30 milligrams daily. It can be taken only on
prescription.
Coenzyme Q 10. Dr. Karl Folkers discovered this
substance, also called ubiquinone; toward the end of
his long and distinguished career he regretted that he
had not called it a vitamin. It is an odd vitamin
since young people are able to make enough from the
lower numbered ubiquinones such as Q 6 or Q 8 whereas
older people and anyone ill is not able to make
enough. It thus becomes a vitamin later in life and
when one becomes ill. A few clinical studies have
shown that in large doses it has anticancer properties
especially for breast cancer. These range from 300
milligrams to 600 milligrams daily.
Mineral supplements
Selenium. The presence or absence of this trace
element has the clearest relationship to the presence
of cancer. People living on soils that are rich in
selenium have a lower incidence. I recommend between
200 to 1000 micrograms daily. One of my patients took
2000 with no side effects.
Calcium and magnesium. These are generally very useful
to take to maintain calcium levels in bones and blood.
They have been found helpful in cases of bowel cancer.
Women should receive 1500 milligrams of calcium daily
from their food and supplements and half as much
magnesium. There are several forms of these minerals
available. Usually a person will absorb into their
body anywhere between 25 and 50% of the calcium.
Zinc and copper. There is a reciprocal connection
between these two. If blood zinc levels are too high
the copper levels will be too low. Because zinc can
shrink enlarged prostate glands and may be helpful in
the treatment of this cancer. I have been using it
routinely. Also, people in Victoria tend to be low in
zinc levels because our water is soft, and dissolves
copper more easily from copper plumbing.
Other Substances Found in Plants
A large number of these preparations are being used
for the treatment of cancer. They include
bioflavonoids, preparations from soy bean, and from
mushrooms. Vaccines are also being used. Coley's
vaccine originated over 100 years ago. I will not
discuss these, nor other treatments such as 714-X,
Ukrain, Iscador, Cartilage, Carnivora, Amygdalin
(Laetril), Essiac, and many herbs. These are described
in the book by Diamond, Cowden and Goldberg.
Most of the speakers at the 26th Annual International
Conference on Nutritional Medicine Today, Toronto,
April 1997, discussed various topics dealing with the
principle and practice of orthomolecular medicine. Dr.
C. Simone spoke on "Breast Cancer: Nutritional and
Lifestyle Modification to Augment Oncology Care". Dr.
Simone is well known for his work in researching
complementary treatment of cancer.. He is an
Internist, Medical Oncologist, Immunologist and
Radiation Oncologist and has published several
valuable books including Cancer and Nutrition and A
Ten Point Plan to Reduce Your Risk of Getting Cancer.
Optimum nutrition, avoiding toxic substances in food
and water, and other lifestyle changes will materially
reduce the risk of developing cancer.
Here is his ten point plan (1) Nutrition: calories
slightly below average to maintain a weight just below
the average weight. Should be high in fiber, rich in
fish, fruits, and vegetables and with vitamin and
mineral supplements. Eliminate additives and salt. (2)
Avoid tobacco. (3) Avoid alcohol (one drink per week
allowed). (4) Avoid radiation. Take X-ray only when
necessary and avoid excessive exposure to sun. (5)
Keep environment, air, water, and work place clean.
(6) Avoid promiscuity, hormones and any unnecessary
drugs.(7). Learn early warning signs like a lump in
the breast. (8) Exercise and relax regularly. (9) Take
a yearly physical. (10) Read his book for a self test
of risk factors and symptoms that may indicate cancer
or heart disease. See the report by Esteve,J. et all.
Diet and cancers of the larynx and hypopharynx: the
IARC multi-center study in southwestern Europe. In
Cancer Causes and Control 7:240-252,1996.
These ten points should be part of every treatment
program as well. The main difference is that in
treatment the first point becomes even more important
and the doses of supplements are much greater. The
sicker a person is the more nutrients are needed in
optimum doses to help the bodies reparative
mechanisms. Treatment must be started as soon as the
diagnosis is suspected and made, and should be
concurrent with any other treatment recommended by
oncologists and cancer specialists. Eventually all
cancer specialists will be using these orthomolecular
techniques. Supplements must be maintained while
chemotherapy or radiation are being used. Studies have
shown that these supplements enhance the toxic effect
of the treatment on the lesion and decrease the toxic
effects on the body. Patients do not suffer as much
from the side effects and recover much more quickly
when the treatment series is completed. They enhance
the quality of life during and after treatment.
Treatment with high doses ascorbic acid either by
mouth or intravenously or both carries no risk and
does provide substantial advantages over chemotherapy
and surgery used as the sole treatment. Between 1980
and 1995 four patients with sarcoma followed my
treatment protocol (a combination of orthodox and
orthomolecular treatment). The first seen in Victoria,
had a prostate sarcoma invading his pelvic bones. The
cancer clinic could not treat him and he was declared
untreatable. He responded to the regimen and died 9
years later at age 80 clear of cancer. One is alive
after ten years. One is still alive after five years.
The last one, an abdominal liposarcoma died in his
sixth year. Counting the first young patient I saw in
1962 who was still well several years ago, five of six
responded either to the vitamin regimen alone or to
the combination treatment.
There is no reason in the world why any oncologist
should not allow vitamin treatment in combination with
chemotherapy. This would enhance the therapeutic
effect of the chemotherapy and decrease its toxicity.
(December 26, 1999)
|
