“I made a discovery in 1980 which was very surprising: that vitamin C could block the transformation of normal cells into cancer cells in a culture dish. And I've spent the last 45 years or so trying to figure out how that could possibly happen.”
Now Distinguished Professor of Epigenetics Dr. Peter Jones has co-authored the first double-blind, randomized trial testing daily oral vitamin C in patients with pre-cancer blood disorders and early-stage blood cancers.
The study began in 2017 and followed patients for five years, revealing those who took vitamin C were significantly more likely to be alive three years later than those who took the placebo.
Jones emphasizes this doesn’t show a potential treatment for existing cancer, but possibly a way to intervene before cancer becomes established.
“It is an interception. But it is an interception that is not toxic. And so, I don't see much of a downside in using a vitamin C supplement to intercept this particular kind of cancer before it develops.”
While preliminary results are promising, Jones cautions more research is needed.
“Because it's a randomized placebo-controlled trial, we can be pretty sure of this result. The downside is: it's a very small trial. We had only a 109 people involved in it.”
Researchers are planning a larger Phase 3 clinical trial to confirm findings.
Read more about the Phase 2 trial here.
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