A new Research study has made a surprising discovery about antioxidants like vitamins C and E! Researchers found that antioxidants stimulate a mechanism to grow new blood vessels in cancer tumors. The growth of such new blood vessels is helping the cancer tumors to spread even more. The study also reveals the potential risks of taking antioxidant supplements unnecessarily. Let’s dive in to learn more about this incredible discovery.
Research Study and Findings
Karolinska Institutet in Sweden conducted the study. The surprising research results are published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Professor Martin Bergö, at the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, led the study.
“We’ve found that antioxidants activate a mechanism that causes cancer tumors to form new blood vessels, which is surprising since it was previously thought that antioxidants have a protective effect,” says Professor Martin Bergö.
Antioxidants usually hunt the body to find radicals of oxygen that are free. By doing so, antioxidants prevent or reduce the damage of ‘oxidative stress.’ Oxidative stress is quite useful in beating cancer. It regulates the progression of many cancer types! Breast, lung, liver, colon, prostate, ovary, and brain cancers are some cancers regulated by oxidative stress. So, preventing or reducing this leads cancer cells to grow.
Professor Martin Bergö says that people have nothing to worry about antioxidants in normal food. However, taking additional amounts is harmful for cancer patients. It is also harmful to those who have a cancer risk, according to the study.
“The new blood vessels nourish the tumors and can help them grow and spread. There’s no need to fear antioxidants in normal food but most people don’t need additional amounts of them. In fact, it can be harmful to cancer patients and people with elevated cancer risk,” says Professor Martin Bergö.
Vitamins C and E boost the growth and spread of lung cancers by stabilizing the BACH1 protein. The protein activates when there is a low level of free oxygen radicals. Introducing extra bits of antioxidants to the body can help the protein to activate. Recent studies have been conducted on mice and samples of human breast as well as kidney tumors. The researchers are also looking at what more they can do in the future.
Conclusion
A new Research study has made a surprising discovery about antioxidants like vitamins C and E! Researchers found that antioxidants stimulate a mechanism to grow new blood vessels in cancer tumors. The growth of such new blood vessels is helping the cancer tumors to spread even more. Professor Martin Bergö says that people have nothing to worry about antioxidants in normal food. However, taking additional amounts is harmful for cancer patients. It is also harmful to those who have a cancer risk, according to the study.
Journal Reference;
”Antioxidants stimulate BACH1-dependent tumor angiogenesis”, Ting Wang, Yongqiang Dong, Zhiqiang Huang, Guoqing Zhang, Ying Zhao, Haidong Yao, Jianjiang Hu, Elin Tüksammel, Huan Cai, Ning Liang, Xiufeng Xu, Xijie Yang, Sarah Schmidt, Xi Qiao, Susanne Schlisio, Staffan Strömblad, Hong Qian, Changtao Jiang, Eckardt Treuter, Martin O. Bergö, Journal of Clinical Investigation, online 31 August 2023, doi: 10.1172/JCI169671
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