I recently received a letter from Susan. She wrote to the story of “Jane” and “John”, both of whom have cancer and have, or will, undergo IV vitamin C therapy. I am sure her will give people support to try high-dose vitamin C for cancer.

I have, fortunately, not had to make treatment decisions involving cancer. I can only imagine the difficulty there is to decide on a course of action given the uncertainties and seriousness of both the disease and the treatments. Abram Hoffer has extensive clinical experience with cancer and vitamin C and it is his opinion that IV vitamin C can be used in conjunction with conventional treatments. His experience is that the vitamin C actually promotes the effectiveness of both radiation therapy and chemotherapy.

Here is Hoffer’s regimen:

Diet Advice

• Restrict sugar
• Increase fruits and vegetables
• Drink lots of water

Supplementation

• B-50
• Vitamin B-3 (niacin) – 1.5 – 3 grams
• Vitamin E – 800 – 1600 IU
• Beta Carotene – 10,000 – 75,000 IU
• Selenium – 200 – 600mcg
• Zinc – 50 – 220mg
• Vitamin C – bowel tolerance limit – 3 times daily, plus IV

It is very disappointing that the conventional medical community knows so little about nutrition. They tend to severely underestimate the requirement of proper nutrition to support the body’s systems, especially during an illness, and also dismiss the possibility of nutrition therapeutically. It is a travesty that from this position of ignorance and bias, most doctors do not hesitate, as “experts”, to tell patients that nutritional therapies are of little or no value. When a person is facing such difficult and important decisions as they do for cancer treatment it is natural to desperately want to have faith in their doctors, that they are in the best hands and that the doctors are knowledgeable and will guide them to the best outcomes. In order to try IV vitamin C as a cancer patient you must be very strong in your convictions knowing that the “experts” are going to be hostile to your plans. I am sure you have felt this.

I would highly recommend Beating Cancer with Nutrition. This book outlines a vast array of nutrients and their value in treating cancer.

Check out my Cancer Reference page for other book reviews.

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And here is Susan’s story of “Jack” and “Jane”:

First of all, I am writing about my daughter-in-law, “Jane”. I just happened upon your site as I am researching even further for my own son (not “Jane’s” husband) who has just been diagnosed with Synovial Sarcoma. He will start I.V. Vitamin C next week. It is “Jane’s story” I would like to relay.

“Jane” was diagnosed on Oct. 12, 2005 with an Anaplastic Astrocytoma of the Thalamus. It was inoperable and malignant. We were told she had 14 to 18 months to live and that was with high-dose radiation therapy for six weeks, which followed immediately after diagnosis. They also administered a low-dose chemo drug along with the radiation. This drug had not really been proven to increase survival to any significant degree. After this was complete, she seemed to recover as thin as she was. However, when the “high-dose” chemo began one-month later she deteriorated rapidly. The tumor grew quickly, swelling increased and neurological symptoms worsened significantly. It was decided by my son and his wife with the support of her neurosurgeon to cease treatments. At this point they gave her “a few weeks, perhaps a few months” to live. We were devastated to say the least. Their children were 2 yrs and 7 months respectively at this time.

In the meantime though, good friends from our church had introduced us to a doctor in Cambridge, Ontario who administered I.V. Vitamin C among other treatments. A week after “Jane” had been sent home to die she said, “I want to go see Dr.”A”. The appointment was made and treatment began the next week. To make a long story short Jane is still with us, and presently doing well. Her last MRI in May ’07 showed the tumor was now just less than half its’ original size. No swelling and no inflammation. I must say though that in March ’07 the MRI was “strange”. The neurosurgeon and oncologist did not know what to make of it – Blurry – no definite outer margins. Perhaps this was the breaking up of the dead tissue. Prior to this, the MRIs were similar – not much change. Maybe a couple millimeters smaller overall.

We are encouraged by the results of her I.V. treatments.

My son’s journey began 12 years ago as a teenager with a tumor which we now know was misdiagnosed as a borderline Polymorphous Hemangioendothelioma. They thought they “got it all” in two four-hour surgeries. No follow-up therapy recommended. This March ’07, 12 long years later he began having strange feelings again. Two tumors this time they thought, however, the MRI did not reveal the full extent of disease found during surgery on August 21st ’07. After 10 long hours they closed unable to “get it all”. His clavicle broken in two places and screwed back together. His Pectoral muscle detached and sewed back on. His journey has just begun. We are so impressed with Sarah’s progress the decision to follow her course was natural. “John” will probably do the radiation recommended though it is a large field that requires radiation. Chemo has been recommended but the possible side-effects are horrendous and at this point he has decided to decline. A chest x-ray showed no metastasis. I’m sure this will not go well with the oncologist next week. We saw what chemo did to “Jane”. He is adopting a stricter diet that will help his immune system recover along with the I.V. vitamin C and anything else Dr. “A” suggests. We will also be pursuing PET scans to evaluate treatment, as the MRI did not fully reveal the disease. We questioned the oncologist with respect to increased survival if “John” goes with Chemo. Without Chemo the 5-year survival rate is 50%. With Chemo it is 60% to 70%. Not much better given that the complications of Chemo can kill his slight and presently weakened frame. I.V. vitamin C is just so much gentler. The side effects listed for the two drugs they wanted to give him are: hair loss (no biggie),nausea/vomiting (a little worse), raw sores in mouth (can’t eat will lose even more weight), kidney/bladder/heart issues (just temporary they say), sterility (permanent – were kind enough to give him info on a Sperm Bank), severely weakened immune system (just what he doesn’t need) and last but certainly not least – blood clots.

So this is our story to this point in time. I hope it serves to encourage someone that might feel discouraged. Knowing about I.V. Vitamin C gives us hope for our beloved “Jane” and “John”