Radiation and supplements

Gosh, we (bc.org'rs) go back and forth on this issue. It seems we've all gotten variations on this advice.

My RO told me not to take any anti-oxidants: C, E, A, D...I think (if those are the main A.Os--I can't remember). I could take anything else I wanted.  I felt like it was just a standard piece of advice.  They don't seem to know (still!) if anti-oxidants protect cancer cells like regular cells and they want to make sure the rads do their work on the baddies.   Others don't seem to think anything but mega-doses of anti-oxidants would be detrimental, so they just say take what you want.

It all seems like such a crap shoot anyway...hate to sound so cynical. I'd do some research on your own and make sure what you read is from a .gov or .org site, and as current as you can get.  Then make up your own mind and be happy with your choice.

Hugs,

Claire

My MO and RO said no supplements during Chemo and Rads.  They said the minute you are done, okay to start them.  Even juicing they told me no because they said it can interfere with Chemo and Rads because it interrupts the cancer destruction process.  

I did what I was told and the day I was done, I started my supplements.

The theory is that the point of radiation is to kill cells, and the antioxidants protect cells from being killed, so may interfere with the rads doing their job. But there is no hard evidence one way or another. I figured it was only prudent to avoid them during rads, even vitamin E oil on the skin.



For similar reasons they recommend waiting until after treatment is over to start taking the tamoxifen or AIs. The chemo and rads especially target fast-growing cells - like cancer cells (and sadly, hair follicles!). The purpose of the estrogen-blockers is the starve the cancer cells of their favorite food - estrogen - so as a result they aren't growing fast (or at all), so they wouldn't respond to the chemo or rads. Makes sense when you think about it that way.



I'm all for taking lots of supplements and eating lots of super healthy foods, but not until after treatment is over and any bad cells are killed. Then we can build up our healthy cells and recover.