Vitamin C may kill cancer cells
Vitamin C may ‘tell’ faulty stem cells in bone marrow to mature and die normally, instead of multiplying to cause blood cancers.
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This is the finding by researchers from the Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Health.
Certain genetic changes are known to reduce the ability of an enzyme called TET2 to encourage stem cells to become mature blood cells, which eventually die in many patients with certain kinds of leukaemia, say the authors.
The new study found that vitamin C activated TET2 function in mice engineered to be deficient in the enzyme.
“We’re excited by the prospect that high-dose vitamin C might become a safe treatment for blood diseases caused by TET2-deficient leukaemia stem cells, most likely in combination with other targeted therapies,” says corresponding study author Benjamin G. Neel, MD, PhD, professor in the Department of Medicine and director of the Perlmutter Cancer Center.
Source: NYU Langone Health / NYU School of Medicine vua www.sciencedaily.com
