Antioxidants may help cancers thrive
By Janet Raloff
Antioxidant vitamins have become darlings of the nutritional world. By disarming biologically damaging molecular fragments known as free radicals, antioxidants can fight the ravages of aging and many chronic diseases. Free radicals also offer benefits, however, such as ridding the body of germs and damaged cells. By curbing these activities, a new animal study finds, antioxidants can aid cancer growth.
Several earlier studies had hinted that antioxidants might foster malignancies. Recent work, for instance, showed that cancer cells are more likely than healthy ones to hoard antioxidants (SN: 10/2/99, p. 221)—presumably as ammunition against free radicals unleashed by the body or cancer therapies. Another study found that the more aggressive a woman’s breast cancer, the more vitamin E her blood contains and the lower the free-radical activity in her body (SN: 4/29/95, p. 271).