High levels of vitamin C can slow the growth of colorectal tumours in mice.

Lewis Cantley at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York and his colleagues studied human colorectal cancer cells with mutations in either the KRAS or the BRAF genes, which are commonly mutated in people with this type of cancer. High levels of oxidized vitamin C killed the cells. The authors found that the cancer cells make unusually large amounts of a receptor that takes up the oxidized vitamin C molecule. Once inside the cell, the compound kicked off a reaction that led to cell death by depleting a molecule called glutathione, which normally mops up damaging free radicals. High doses of vitamin C stunted colorectal tumour growth in KRAS-mutant mice.

With more research, the vitamin could be used to treat some colon cancers, the authors suggest.

Science http://doi.org/83w (2015)