Changes of terminal cancer patients' health-related quality of life after high dose vitamin C administration.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Uncontrolled prospective before-and-after single-arm study
PubMed 17297243 · doi:10.3346/jkms.2007.22.1.7
What was done
Thirty-nine terminal cancer patients were prospectively evaluated before and after receiving high-dose vitamin C. The regimen consisted of two intravenous infusions of 10 g vitamin C given with a 3-day interval, combined with oral vitamin C at 4 g daily for one week. Health-related quality of life was evaluated using the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire.
What was found
Global health/quality of life scores improved significantly from 36 ± 18 to 55 ± 16 (p = 0.001). Significant increases were observed in physical, role, emotional, and cognitive functioning scales (p < 0.05). In symptom scales, significant reductions were reported for fatigue, nausea/vomiting, pain, and appetite loss (p < 0.005). Other function and symptom domains showed no significant changes.
Why it matters
This study provides preliminary observational data suggesting that high-dose vitamin C might help alleviate symptom burden and improve quality of life in advanced cancer care.
Limits
The study is limited by a small sample size (n = 39), an uncontrolled single-arm design, short follow-up duration (one week), and lack of blinding, leaving self-reported quality of life improvements highly vulnerable to placebo effects, regression to the mean, and reporting bias.
Cited by
- supports In a study of 39 terminal cancer patients, receiving 10 grams of intravenous vitamin C twice a week and 4 grams of oral vitamin C daily for a week improved quality of life and reduced fatigue, nausea, vomiting, pain, and appetite loss.