Vitamin C for Canine Cancer Patients? Part 2
Dr. Demian Dressler is internationally recognized as “the dog cancer vet” because of his innovations in the field of dog cancer management, and the popularity of his blog here at Dog Cancer Blog. The owner of South Shore Veterinary Care, a full-service veterinary hospital in Maui, Hawaii, Dr. Dressler studied Animal Physiology and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Davis before earning his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University. After practicing at Killewald Animal Hospital in Amherst, New York, he returned to his home state, Hawaii, to practice at the East Honolulu Pet Hospital before heading home to Maui to open his own hospital. Dr. Dressler consults both dog lovers and veterinary professionals, and is sought after as a speaker on topics ranging from the links between lifestyle choices and disease, nutrition and cancer, and animal ethics. His television appearances include “Ask the Vet” segments on local news programs. He is the author of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Full Spectrum Treatments to Optimize Your Dog’s Life Quality and Longevity. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Avian Veterinarians, the National Animal Supplement Council and CORE (Comparative Orthopedic Research Evaluation). He is also an advisory board member for Pacific Primate Sanctuary.
Updated: December 17th, 2018
Well, it’s been 2 days since the lead-in entry on Vitamin C….which may (or may not) be a long time to wait 🙂 Anyway, here you go:
As I had indicated, it turns out that if one were to take vitamin C, at huge doses by mouth, the blood levels you get are puny. When you, or your dog, takes a pill, some gets absorbed into the body, but some passes out in the waste.
People who took 18 grams of the stuff (which equals gagging down 9-18 of those “horse pill” tablets) per day, only ended up with 220 micromol/L in their blood. That means a huge amount Vitamin C ends up literally going down the toilet.
Those studies showing that cancer cells die when exposed to vitamin C needed more than 1,000 micromol/L. Since 220 is much less than 1000, the cancer cells were not dying.
This is probably why the two clinical trials where people had to down 10 grams of vitamin C daily showed no benefit in surviving their cancers.
So the message seems clear…don’t bother with strait oral vitamin C (ascorbic acid) when you are trying to help your dog kill cancer cells. In my opinion, bases on the evidence, you can’t get the levels you want for cancer cell death.
But there are other ways to get the stuff in the body. What about injections?? Does that help?
Well, I could not find solid reports on the effects of intravenous vitamin C given to canine cancer patients. Recall I want good, solid, science-based information…however, I did find some in the human literature.
A paper came out in 2006 that showed 3 human patients with tumors that would have been expected to have led to their demise opted for IV vitamin C at whopping doses. Read the abstract here.
Get a copy of the Dog Cancer Survival Guide for more helpful information and tools
One had a form of lymphoma (lymphosarcoma), one a kidney tumor, and other was transitional cell cancer of the bladder. All had signs of either local spread (into the surrounding areas) or distant spread (metastasis). Bad, bad stuff.
The amazing thing is that in each of these three, the tumors went away. Gone. Nada. Zippo. And that, my friends, is pretty astounding. Granted, the lady with the kidney tumor (a chronic smoker) developed lung cancer 4 years later…but the information is pretty impressive regardless.
Does this mean everyone with a dog should go out and schedule IV vitamin C injections for their dogs? No. Especially not dogs with urinary stones like calcium oxalates, which likely can be worsened or theoretically even caused by the injections.
But, it does mean that in certain circumstances, it should be considered. Vitamin C IV injections appear fairly safe overall, and people are starting to pay attention to Vitamin C IV injections in cancer therapy…check it out. For the vets out there, the protocols are here too.
Note that it is, at this point, probably unwise to give these doses of IV vitamin C in conjunction with chemotherapy until the issue of whether it helps or hinders chemo is clarified. I would also avoid IV vit C at these doses if your dog is receiving radiation therapy.
Best to all,
Dr Dressler
Dr. Demian Dressler is internationally recognized as “the dog cancer vet” because of his innovations in the field of dog cancer management, and the popularity of his blog here at Dog Cancer Blog. The owner of South Shore Veterinary Care, a full-service veterinary hospital in Maui, Hawaii, Dr. Dressler studied Animal Physiology and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Davis before earning his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University. After practicing at Killewald Animal Hospital in Amherst, New York, he returned to his home state, Hawaii, to practice at the East Honolulu Pet Hospital before heading home to Maui to open his own hospital. Dr. Dressler consults both dog lovers and veterinary professionals, and is sought after as a speaker on topics ranging from the links between lifestyle choices and disease, nutrition and cancer, and animal ethics. His television appearances include “Ask the Vet” segments on local news programs. He is the author of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Full Spectrum Treatments to Optimize Your Dog’s Life Quality and Longevity. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Avian Veterinarians, the National Animal Supplement Council and CORE (Comparative Orthopedic Research Evaluation). He is also an advisory board member for Pacific Primate Sanctuary.
Where is part 1 of
Vitamin C for Canine Cancer Patients?
Hello,
Part 1 can be found here:
https://www.dogcancerblog.com/blog/vitamin-c-for-canine-cancer-patients/
What about liposomal vitamin C
Hi Terry,
That answer really needs to come from your vet. Any IV treatment would be vet-advised and both weight and overall condition can be taken into consideration. If it’s cancer of the spleen, are you talking about hemangisarcoma? If so, you may want to ask your vet about metronomic chemotherapy. It has been shown to have positive effects on that type of cancer, and is very gentle on the dog. Good luck!
My Keeshond has cancer on her spleen would like to know how much vitamin C IV for a 45 lb dog would be?
Dr. D.,
I have an 85# yellow lab, Solomon, just dx in Oct.2012 with stage IV Hemangiosarcoma: the tumor on his spleen ruptured, resulting in an emergency spleenectomy. It was 50/50 but he made it home that very day. About a week later, we placed him on Neoplasene (plant alkaloids) and his PCV is 42%; TP 7.3 a/o 10.29.12 – still in the norm. I am concerned because his fatty tumors are growing – not aspirated because I did not want the possibility of this spreading as well. He is on a white rice/cooked organic meats/vegetable diet while on the Neoplasene. I would like to place him on IV Vitamin C as soon as possible. Is this ok to do IV Vitamin C while on Neoplasene at the same time? Or would you do the IV Vitamin C for a few weeks, stopping or reducing the Neoplasene? Or do you know if there is a “protocol” that is successful in the use of both of these cancer fighters? Either way, will you please let me know the dose recommendations for IV Vitamin C? (I plan to add the Turkey Tail Mushroom to his diet as well because of its success against Hemangiosarcoma.) Thank-you for your help!
I once had a vet that cured my shepherd of Heartworms using homeopathic remedies.
The key was high dose IV injection of vitamin C in combination with Black walnut hull / wormwood / mugwart combination as best I recall. Using this method it wasn’t long and Max tested negative.
I need to know what is a safe high dosage injection for a 135 pound dog?
Thanks
Dear Doctor my Golden is currently on an oral chemo drug Satraplatin and the tumor started to increase in size our Oncologist suggested IV Vit. C he is currently doing acupuncture, cold laser and ozone therapy. He has a Pheochromocytoma have you heard any good news using this therapy for his type of cancer? Thanks!
Dear Patty,
no not specifically. But yo are on the right track in your plan. You may want to read the Guide for more options too! This will get you started:
https://www.dogcancerblog.com/blog/an-overview-of-what-else-can-i-do/
Dr D