Skin Cancer and Vitamin C

Vitamin C Treatment

When Vitamin C comes into contact with a skin cancer or external tumor (e.g. basel cell carcinoma), it hardens the tumor and forms a crust, such that the scab falls off in 2 weeks or so depending on how big the tumor is and how aggressive you get with the Vitamin C.

The solution is made by adding 1/8 tsp (teaspoon) of pure Vitamin C crystals to 1 tsp of water (a ratio of 1:8). Add any more and the Vitamin C won't dissolve. This should make enough solution to last all day. If more is made than is needed you should store it in a closed container in the refrigerator.

Even better, put 1 or 2 ounces of water (30-60 ml) in a small glass bottle and add 1 tsp of Vitamin C for each ounce of water (that is a 1:6 ratio). If after mixing you don't see any crystals on the bottom then add more Vitamin C until the water won't dissolve anymore. This insures a saturated solution of Vitamin C.

The treatment is to apply the mixture (using a cotton swab or Q-Tip) to the tumor. This should be done 2 or 3 times a day. It is best to put a bandage or other cotton covering over the tumor after each treatment, if possible.

On the skin cancer the bandage is just to keep the lesion wet with Vitamin C until the next treatment. If there is an infection you should change the bandage more often. Ascorbate is also anti-infective and is used topically and IV for burn patients. You would therefore be curing the cancer and infection at the same time.

It is critical to use a mineral ascorbate form of Vitamin C (e.g. sodium ascorbate), rather than ascorbic acid. Absorbic acid is useless in the body until it mixes with minerals and becomes a mineral ascorbate. However, when applying Vitamin C to skin cancer, an ascorbic acid has not had the opportunity to convert into a mineral ascorbate. Thus, ONLY A MINERAL ASCORBATE will be effective against skin cancer.

The recommended form of Vitamin C comes from the Life Extension Foundation, which is high in mineral ascorbates. Here is a link to the recommended product:
Buffered Vitamin C Product

More on the Theory of Vitamin C and Skin Cancer

Most of what I know about Vitamin C and skin cancer comes from a Dr. Wassell, M.D. Dr. Wassell gets sarcastic at times, put your common sense hat on. There are some superb comments in his email to me!! The rest of this article is from an email I received from him.

• "Dr. Saul: I understand the article on topical application of vitamin c was written by Robert, a Doctor Yourself staff volunteer from Tennessee.

  Topical vitamin c does kill basal cell carcinomas. It doesn't matter what cation you have coupled with the ascorbate, it is the ascorbate that does the killing. I have used ascorbic acid, sodium ascorbate, C-salts, and buffered C from Life Extension Foundation. They all are effective.

  The solution is saturated which means no more of the vitamin c will dissolve in the solution. The saturated solution will contain about 500mg vitamin c/ml. The amount of vitamin c in the blood after IV infusion of 15 grams of vitamin c in about 1.2mg/ml. A 60 gram infusion will produce a blood level of 3.0mg/ml. Tumors begin to die when levels of about 2.0mg/ml are reached.

  So we see that blood concentrations of 2+mg/ml vitamin c are tumorcidal, and we are applying a solution of 500mg/ml directly in contact with the tumor cell surface. This solution is 250X stronger than the concentration required in blood to be tumorcidal. Apparently enough gets absorbed through the surface to kill the tumor.

  Vitamin C is thought to act as a prooxidant inside the cell in high concentration, and some hydrogen peroxide is formed which is rapidly disposed of by catalase in a normal cell. Since cancer cells have a deficiency or lack entirely of catalase the peroxides kill the cell. I have never had a normal skin cell die from topical vitamin c so they must have plenty of catalase unlike their neighboring cancer cells. Too bad.

  The implications of this are that high oral doses daily of vitamin c should be preventative of the formation of oral, esophageal, stomach, and small bowel cancers. The high concentrations of vitamin c contacting the surfaces of these organs daily will make a very hostile environment for a cancer to develop. The colon may not be as well protected unless you like spending most of your day on the toilet.

  If you do get a colon cancer, vitamin c enemas would not be a bad idea to add to other effective alternative treatment. A colon cancer bathed daily in vitamin c and receiving high blood levels from IVC wouldn't stand a chance. Cancer cells have many glucose receptor sites since this is the only food they will eat. Too bad that ascorbate uses the same pathway to get in the cell.

  We can even make it worse on the poor cancer by lowering blood glucose with insulin (IPT), and raising blood ascorbate with IVC. All the cell doors will be open (IPT) and there will be nothing but ascorbate in the blood to go in! The tumor will probably explode from all the intracellular oxygen formed--cancers don't like oxygen either.

  This is real expensive therapy (sic). The IVC for 25 grams cost about $20 for all the materials. Add about $2 for the enema ascorbate assuming you own your own emema bag and the water's free. You don't need insurance for this. In fact alternative care in the only safe and effective way to go for all but trauma and you don't need insurance for any alternative care, most won't pay for it anyway.

  One problem here. If your cell walls are made of Crisco, and margarine you probably have type II diabetes and those cells won't let either glucose or ascorbate in. You'll have to forgo your partially hydrogenated and trans fat diet and chow down on omega 3's for a few months and then your diabetes will be cured and you can proceed to kill your cancer."
  Dr. William Wassell, MD

I might add to these comments that DMSO might be a great substance to help push the Vitamin C deeper into the skin and tumor. I don't have any proof of this, since DMSO binds best to small molecules and Vitamin C is a large molecule. But it certainly won't hurt, so try it if you wish and let me know if it is synergistic with Vitamin C on skin cancer. If you use DMSO, you MUST read this article for safety warnings:
DMSO Article

Supercharging This Treatment

Superficial skin cancer should be easy to treat with the products I mention above. However, for those with more severe skin cancer, which goes deep beneath the skin, a complete treatment plan should be devised using one of the complete treatment protocol articles.

An alternative cancer treatment should be a complete treatment protocol. Do NOT forget to study the complete treatment protocol for Stage I, II and III cancer patients and the complete treatment protocol for Stage IV cancer patients:
Treatment For Stage I, II and III Cancer Patients
Treatment For Stage IV Cancer Patients