TY - JOUR
T1 - Targeting cancer vulnerabilities with high-dose vitamin C
AU - Ngo, Bryan
AU - Van Riper, Justin M.
AU - Cantley, Lewis C.
AU - Yun, Jihye
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank S. Wang in the Yun laboratory for helpful discussions and proofreading of the manuscript. The authors apologize for any references left uncited owing to space limitations. This work was supported by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant R35 CA197588 (L.C.C.), Stand Up to Cancer–American Association for Cancer Research grant SU2C-AACR-DT22-17 (L.C.C.), the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) grant RR170039 (J.Y.), the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) grant 1K22CA216036 (J.Y.), the US National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program grant DGE1257284 (B.N.) and NCI grant 1F99CA234950-01 (B.N.). L.C.C. is a founder and member of the senior advisory boards of Agios Pharmaceuticals and Petra Pharmaceuticals, which are developing novel therapies for cancer. The L.C.C. laboratory also receives financial support from Petra Pharmaceuticals.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, Springer Nature Limited.
PY - 2019/5/1
Y1 - 2019/5/1
N2 - Over the past century, the notion that vitamin C can be used to treat cancer has generated much controversy. However, new knowledge regarding the pharmacokinetic properties of vitamin C and recent high-profile preclinical studies have revived interest in the utilization of high-dose vitamin C for cancer treatment. Studies have shown that pharmacological vitamin C targets many of the mechanisms that cancer cells utilize for their survival and growth. In this Opinion article, we discuss how vitamin C can target three vulnerabilities many cancer cells share: redox imbalance, epigenetic reprogramming and oxygen-sensing regulation. Although the mechanisms and predictive biomarkers that we discuss need to be validated in well-controlled clinical trials, these new discoveries regarding the anticancer properties of vitamin C are promising to help identify patient populations that may benefit the most from high-dose vitamin C therapy, developing effective combination strategies and improving the overall design of future vitamin C clinical trials for various types of cancer.
AB - Over the past century, the notion that vitamin C can be used to treat cancer has generated much controversy. However, new knowledge regarding the pharmacokinetic properties of vitamin C and recent high-profile preclinical studies have revived interest in the utilization of high-dose vitamin C for cancer treatment. Studies have shown that pharmacological vitamin C targets many of the mechanisms that cancer cells utilize for their survival and growth. In this Opinion article, we discuss how vitamin C can target three vulnerabilities many cancer cells share: redox imbalance, epigenetic reprogramming and oxygen-sensing regulation. Although the mechanisms and predictive biomarkers that we discuss need to be validated in well-controlled clinical trials, these new discoveries regarding the anticancer properties of vitamin C are promising to help identify patient populations that may benefit the most from high-dose vitamin C therapy, developing effective combination strategies and improving the overall design of future vitamin C clinical trials for various types of cancer.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41568-019-0135-7
DO - 10.1038/s41568-019-0135-7
M3 - Article
C2 - 30967651
AN - SCOPUS:85064229438
SN - 1474-175X
VL - 19
SP - 271
EP - 282
JO - Nature Reviews Cancer
JF - Nature Reviews Cancer
IS - 5
ER -