A RANDOMIZED clinical trial has revealed that pharmacological ascorbate (high-dose intravenous vitamin C) improves survival outcomes for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, a disease with notoriously low 5-year survival rates. Published findings show that adding pharmacological ascorbate (P-AscH-) to the standard chemotherapy regimen of gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel nearly doubles median overall survival to 16 months, compared to 8.3 months with chemotherapy alone.
In this phase 2 study, 36 participants with stage IV pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) were randomized to receive standard chemotherapy (SOC) or chemotherapy combined with P-AscH- (ASC). P-AscH-, administered at 75 g intravenously three times weekly, raised serum ascorbate levels from micromolar to millimolar concentrations. Patients receiving the combined treatment also experienced extended progression-free survival of 6.2 months compared to 3.9 months in the control group.
Importantly, the addition of high-dose vitamin C did not increase the frequency or severity of adverse events, nor did it negatively affect patients’ quality of life. Exploratory analyses suggest that P-AscH- offers a tolerable and effective adjunct therapy for this aggressive cancer.
These findings could signal a critical shift in managing metastatic PDAC, offering new hope for a condition that currently lacks effective long-term treatments.
Reference: Bodeker KL et al. A randomized trial of pharmacological ascorbate, gemcitabine, and nab-paclitaxel for metastatic pancreatic cancer. Redox Biol. 2024:77(103375).
