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Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: thedoc on 04/02/2014 11:09:12

Title: Do antioxidants accelerate cancer?
Post by: thedoc on 04/02/2014 11:09:12

Antioxidants, widely regarded as a means to protect cells against the damage done by metabolic stress, may actually accelerate cancer growth

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Title: Re: Do antioxidants accelerate cancer?
Post by: evan_au on 05/02/2014 11:08:17

It would make sense that a well-nourished cancer with lots of vitamins and antioxidants would grow more vigorously than a malnourished one.

Perhaps this is why Tumour Necrosis Factor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumor_necrosis_factor_alpha), one of the body's weapons against cancer, causes the patient to become gaunt and emaciated.

Some cancer clinics have experimented with a restrictive diet for a few days before anti-cancer therapy, as aggressive tumours seem unable to control their runaway growth, and effectively starve themselves, while normal cells go into partial hibernation, which provides some protection against the anti-cancer drugs.