Animal Experiments In the second study, the same scientists gave vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) to mice that had been inoculated with human melanoma cells. The animals were then given cisplatin (also called DDP). This paper also showed that vitamin E supplementation did not interfere with the effectiveness of cisplatin. In fact, vitamin E "was able to increase survival of mice treated with a high dose" of the drug. While the toxicity of high-dose cisplatin caused death in about 70 percent of mice, a combination of vitamin E and cisplatin reduced such treatment-related deaths to about 30 percent. An analysis of the animals' organs showed that the protective effect of vitamin E was mainly related to its antioxidant activity. Vitamin E also protected mice from severe nerve damage induced by cisplatin. The authors concluded that vitamin E "protects against the systemic toxicity and neurotoxicity induced by DDP [i.e., cisplatin] without interfering with its antitumor activity and suggest that this combination is a promising strategy to improve the therapeutic index of DDP-based chemotherapy." A 300 mg dose of vitamin E costs under 10¢ per day. As I pointed out in my book, "Antioxidants Against Cancer," alpha-tocopherol is just one member of an extended family of tocopherols and tocotrienols. It would be interesting to know what the results would have been if the authors had used a somewhat higher dose (400 to 800 IU) of vitamin E; a mixed tocopherol and tocotrienol formulation, including alpha-tocopherol succinate (the kind of vitamin E that seems to have the greatest anticancer activity); and a mixture of vitamin E and other dietary micronutrients (such as selenium, vitamin A and vitamin C). It may be possible to reduce the toxicity of cisplatin even further, while possibly increasing its effectiveness as well. For years, skeptical oncologists have demanded proof, in the form of randomized controlled trials, that antioxidants do not interfere with chemotherapy. So here's proof. I hope that these studies will help to quell their fears and lead to a more intensive and sympathetic investigation of antioxidants' promising role in cancer treatment. P.S. I thank an alert reader for sending me a reference to these experiments. I don't think that these important findings generated a single major news article anywhere in the world! (A search of the Internet comes up almost entirely blank.) Yet if someone had shown that vitamin E interfered with cisplatin you can bet that it would have generated scare headlines all over the world. "Bad news" about the alleged danger of supplements is always good for a juicy story. Favorable news about a two-thirds reduction in serious side effects apparently is not. Leonetti C, et al. Alpha-tocopherol protects against cisplatin-induced toxicity without interfering with antitumor efficacy. Int J Cancer. 2003 Mar 20;104(2):243-50 Source:www.cancerdecisions.com Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.