VITAMIN A : Cancer Cure or Cancer Cause? PART 2

They don't, of course. And, if we consume enough vitamin A, perhaps neither do we. The NIH says, "Dietary intake studies suggest an association between diets rich in beta-carotene and vitamin A and a lower risk of many types of cancer. A higher intake of green and yellow vegetables or other food sources of beta carotene and/or vitamin A may decrease the risk of lung cancer." (9) A study of over 82,000 people showed that high intakes of vitamin A reduce the risk of stomach cancer by one-half. (10) Dr. Jennifer Brett comments that "Vitamin A fights cancer by inhibiting the production of DNA in cancerous cells. It slows down tumor growth in established cancers and may keep leukemia cells from dividing." (11) A derivative of the vitamin has been shown to kill CEM-C7 human T lymphoblastoid leukemia cells and P1798-C7 murine T lymphoma cells. (12)

Vitamin A is very far from being a cancer "promoter." Rather, it is very near to the cancer solution.

References:

(1) Vitamin A Pushes Breast Cancer to Form Blood Vessel Cells. ScienceDaily, July 17, 2008. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080715204719.htm

(2) Drug Slows Prostate Tumor Growth by Keeping Vitamin A Active. November 6, 2007. Findings from the AACR Centennial Conference on Translational Cancer Medicine: From Technology to Treatment, Singapore, November 4-8, 2007 http://www.aacr.org/home/public--media/news/news-archives-2007.aspx?d=922

(3) Vitamin A derivative could restore smokers' health. http://www.in-pharmatechnologist.com/news/ng.asp?id=26231-vitamin-a-derivative

(4) http://www.lef.org/whatshot/2006_05.htm . See also: Kim KN, Pie JE, Park JH, Park YH, Kim HW, Kim MK. Retinoic acid and ascorbic acid act synergistically in inhibiting human breast cancer cell proliferation. J Nutr Biochem. 2006 Jul;17(7):454-62. Epub 2005 Nov 15.

(5) http://www.bccancer.bc.ca/PPI/UnconventionalTherapies/VitaminARetinol.htm

(6) http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/vitamins/vitaminA/

(7) Annual Reports of the American Association of Poison Control Centers' National Poisoning and Exposure Database (formerly known as the Toxic Exposure Surveillance System). AAPCC, 3201 New Mexico Avenue, Ste. 330, Washington, DC 20016. Download any report from1983-2006 at http://www.aapcc.org/dnn/NPDS/AnnualReports/tabid/125/Default.aspx free of charge. The "Vitamin" category is usually near the end of the report.

(8) Basu S, Sengupta B, Paladhi PK. Single megadose vitamin A supplementation of Indian mothers and morbidity in breastfed young infants. Postgrad Med J. 2003 Jul;79(933):397-402. And: Rahmathullah L, Tielsch JM, Thulasiraj RD et al. Impact of supplementing newborn infants with vitamin A on early infant mortality: community based randomized trial in southern India. BMJ. 2003 Aug 2;327(7409):254.)

(9) http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamina.asp

(10) Larsson SC, Bergkvist L, N�slund I, Ruteg�rd J, Wolk A. Vitamin A, retinol, and carotenoids and the risk of gastric cancer: a prospective cohort study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Feb;85(2):497-503.

(11) Brett, N.D., Jennifer. "How Vitamin A Works." 20 December 2006. HowStuffWorks.com. http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/vitamin-a.htm .

(12) Chan LN, Zhang S, Shao J, Waikel R, Thompson EA, Chan TS. N-(4-hydroxyphenyl)retinamide induces apoptosis in T lymphoma and T lymphoblastoid leukemia cells. Leuk Lymphoma. 1997 Apr;25(3-4):271-80.

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