A daily dose of vitamin C may help people with precancerous blood conditions or early-stage blood cancers live longer, according to a clinical trial that found encouraging results. The study, EVITA phase 2, a follow-up to the EVITA trial from 2016, included 109 patients with either clonal cytopenia of undetermined significance (CCUS), a precancerous blood condition, or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a blood disorder that can develop into acute myeloid leukemia (AML), an aggressive type of blood cancer. Researchers randomly assigned participants to take either 1,000 mg of oral vitamin C daily for 12 months or a placebo containing no vitamin C.
Neither the patients nor the clinical staff knew who had received the supplement until the study ended. None of the participants were receiving cancer treatment during the trial. The authors noted that more than half of the participants had insufficient levels of vitamin C at the beginning of the study.
Among those who received the supplement, blood vitamin C levels returned to normal. Patients taking vitamin C also experienced fewer adverse events during the study and its follow-up period. Researchers additionally observed changes in certain cytokines, molecules that help cells communicate, including immune cells.
These changes were associated with more favorable outcomes and may point to effects on inflammatory processes involved in the growth and progression of abnormal blood cells. "In our trial, we see that vitamin C correlates with a change in inflammatory signaling that aligns with a better outcome," Kirsten Grønbæk, a hematologist and professor at the University of Copenhagen who led the study, told Newsweek. However, she added that researchers believe multiple factors are likely contributing to the findings.
One of the most encouraging results emerged from an exploratory analysis of survival. In an exploratory analysis, participants who received vitamin C were significantly more likely to be alive after approximately three years of follow-up than those who received placebo. However, according to the researchers, Vitamin C did not significantly slow the expansion of abnormal blood cells.
The trial also did not establish that the supplement prevents leukemia or definitively improves survival. "Importantly, we did not see significant differences in baseline characteristics between the participants in the placebo group compared to the vitamin C group," Grønbæk said. The findings build on research into vitamin C's role in regulating gene activity and normal cell development.
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