Treating and preventing cancer
Since 1970, high doses of vitamin C are known to impart beneficial properties on the survival time in cancer patients at terminal cancer. Research is undergoing for using vitamin C in treatment of cancer because the pharmacologic doses of vitamin C might depict promising effects on tumor treatments. Vitamin C can play a role as a pro-oxidant and can help in generating hydrogen peroxide to catalyze the free radicals in order to avoid the oxidative stress.
Administration of high doses of vitamin C can give long survival chances for patients with advancing stages of cancer. The persistent attack of DNA by free reactive oxygen species believes to the reason behind cancer. Vitamin C as a natural physiological antioxidant ceases any possible damage to the DNA at sites of pre-neoplastic lesions and chronic inflammation. However, most of the recovery from DNA damage occurs metabolically but there are sufficient chances of mutational events due to the steady levels of oxidation going on.