Antioxidants may Accelerate the Growth of Lung Cancer

Scientists are still puzzled by how two commonly used antioxidants can exacerbate the growth of lung cancer.

"The take home message is that these antioxidants do not decrease the risk of cancer and may even increase risk of some cancers in some populations," said co-author of the study, Martin Bergo, a molecular biologist at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, via Medical News Today.

For their research, the study authors conducted experiments in which mice with a compound called N-acetylcysteine (NAC) made pre-existing tumors grow at a rate three times faster than normal. After this, researchers fed either NAC or vitamin E to mice at doses of 5 or 50 times higher than the daily recommended amount.

As dietary supplements for humans often contain 4 to 20 times the recommended daily intake of vitamin E, results showed that the amount of antioxidants used in the mice both showed similar results. Tumors grew three times faster than normal and twice as quickly when compared to the mice that did not receive the treatments.

Bergo concludes that "antioxidants do not protect against cancer in healthy people and may increase it," via Reuters. 

However, scientists stress that these results do not pertain to certain foods that are naturally high in antioxidants, including fruits and vegetables.

What do you think? 

More information regarding the study can be found via the journal Science Translational Medicine.