Effect of high-dose intravenous ascorbic acid on cancer patients following ketogenic diet

The role of ascorbic acid in cancer therapy is mainly due to its structural similarity with glucose. When supplemented intravenously in high dose, ascorbic acid can get into the cancer cells and induce apoptosis by causing mitochondrial damage.

The aim was to study the efficacy of high-dose intravenous (IV) ascorbic acid as monotherapy in cancer patients following ketogenic diet and its role in improving the quality of life.

C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rates (ESRs) were considered as parameters to determine the efficacy of the treatment, and substantial decrease in both the levels was observed within 1-week treatment. CRP levels declined from 3.1946 ± 3.2508 mg/L to 1.0606 ± 0.6706 mg/L (P = 2.27E-10), whereas ESR levels declined from 64.1333 ± 38.8253 mm/h to 31.6 ± 16.5520 mm/h (P = 0.0041). A decline in these parameters shows the association of ascorbic acid in reducing the inflammatory response in cancer. The renal effect of ascorbic acid was also studied by analyzing the creatinine level pre- and postascorbic acid treatment sessions, and it raised from 0.8526 ± 0.22904 to 1.1666 ± 0.2894 mg/dL (P = 1.18E-14). This showed the renal impact of ascorbic acid.

The study highlighted the clinical benefit of IV ascorbic acid in the reduction of inflammatory response in cancer patients. The renal adverse events associated with ascorbic acid alarm the use with caution and therapeutic drug monitoring for ascorbic acid.