Beware! Antioxidants can cause cancer to spread faster

But research on the anti-cancer benefits of antioxidants has yielded mixed results, with a few studies showing that taking antioxidants may actually increase cancer risk, they said.

The cancer prevention agent, N-acetylcysteine, is utilized to assuage bodily fluid generation in patients with interminable obstructive aspiratory malady (COPD), said study senior creator Martin Bergo, an educator at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.

It also is used as a supplement by people who believe that the antioxidant can help reduce exercise-related muscle damage, burn fat and prevent fatigue, Bergo added.

N-acetylcysteine was connected to a number’s multiplying of lymph-hub tumors in mice who drank the bound water, contrasted with untreated creatures, as indicated by the discoveries.

Mice that were given antioxidants developed additional and more aggressive tumours.

After experimenting on cell cultures from patients with malignant melanoma, the researchers found that while antioxidants protect healthy cells from free radicals that can potentially turn them into malignancies, they may also protect a tumor once it has formed.

Most recently a 2011 trial of 35,500 men over 50 found that large doses of vitamin E increased the risk of prostate cancer by 17 per cent.

In fact, Dadachova recommended that patients with cancer should stick with natural foods containing a variety of vitamins, many of which are natural antioxidants, but they should not take antioxidant supplements, at least not in huge amounts, she said.

Bergo said his team made a decision to focus on N-acetylcysteine because it is a potent antioxidant that dissolves quickly in water, which makes it easy to feed to lab mice. The researchers also exposed human melanoma cells in lab dishes to NAC and the antioxidant vitamin E. The melanoma cells exhibited an increased ability to spread locally or metastasize, compared to cells not exposed to NAC and vitamin E.

Close up of a basal cell carcinoma skin cancer.

However, it is important to note that, in all of these studies, the researchers looked at antioxidants in supplement form. Researchers demonstrated a year ago that antioxidants hastened and aggravated the progression of lung cancer. “There is no conclusive evidence that antioxidant supplementation would be beneficial for these patients, and they should be encouraged to avoid this strategy because the risk of worsening the disease is high”.

The scientists concluded: “These results demonstrate that antioxidants. play a previously unappreciated role in malignant melanoma progression”.

The results of animal studies “don’t necessarily translate into what happens for people”, Lichtenfeld said.

This is not the first time antioxidants have been linked to the acceleration of cancer.

Medications and supplements can have different effects depending on their level.

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health has more about antioxidants.