Artesunate – A powerful addition to High Dose Vitamin C in the treatment of cancer

Key Points

–  25% improved likelihood of surviving first year over conventional therapy alone
–  38% improved likelihood of surviving to third year over conventional therapy alone
–  Intravenous Vitamin C is already known to reduce side effects of chemotherapy and improve quality of life to cancer patients

Cancer Care at Vive Integrative Health Group

We are often asked what types of treatment we can offer cancer patients. The answer is LOTS. The specifics depend on the patient, but everything we do offer is backed by solid scientific and clinical research.

To begin giving a glimpse into the good quality research we look at, we would like to start sharing with you some of the very interesting and impactful research we review. Below is a summary of a recent significant study in Stage 4 Breast Cancer with a few added comments.

Dr. Colin Race, ND

History of Artesunate

Artesunate has been used for many years in treatment of malaria, but more recently it has been attracting attention in the treatment of cancer.

Artesunate is a naturally occurring compound from the Artemesia plant family. In the laboratory setting researchers have already established its ability to wipe out cancer cells both when administered alone and when combined with various chemotherapy medications.

New Human Clinical Trial

Recently, a human clinical trial with advanced, Stage 4 Breast Cancer patients has also demonstrated the benefit of Artesunate.

This is exciting news!

A cancer in Stage 4 has spread to other areas in the body. This is an advanced stage and treatment to improve prognosis is challenging. Different chemotherapy strategies are important, but of course, they have their side effects and will significantly impact quality of life.

The major outcome measure in this study was survival – the most important outcome.

Two treatment groups were examined, and the survival results of these two groups were compared to well established survival statistics with conventional care alone (Validated SEER Data).

The first treatment group received integrative care (for example, carefully selected supplements, acupuncture, dietary guidance, lifestyle guidance, psychosocial support) which in itself is shown to improve patient outcomes and survival.

The second treatment group of patients received the same integrative care with the addition of HDIVC/Art (High Dose Intravenous Vitamin C with Artesunate).

Stage 4 Breast Cancer Survival

*     Validated SEER Data
**    Integrative treatment provided with or without Conventional Treatment depending on what care was determined appropriate for that patient by their medical oncologist.
†     Clinical trial is ongoing
††    HDIVC/Art = High Dose Intravenous Vitamin C with Artesunate

Conclusions

As you can see in the chart above, integrative cancer care dramatically improves survival in Stage 4 breast cancer, but more impressively High Dose Vitamin C and Artesunate improve survival even further.

This was a small study, and we are looking forward to further studies in various cancer types, but so far what we have seen is very encouraging.

Artesunate is always administered with High Dose Intravenous Vitamin C (HDIVC), and the combination of these two agents, with or without chemotherapy, provides significant advantages:

–  Improved survival
–  Improved tumour sensitivity to chemotherapy
–  Reduced side effects of chemotherapy
–  Improved energy, appetite, quality of life

We feel that it is definitely worthwhile investigating both HDIVC and Artesunate in cancer care. The results speak for themselves. While this trial was looking at Stage 4 breast cancer, the same protocol is showing benefit in other cancer types as well.

If you would like more information on our integrative cancer treatment programs, please get in touch with us.