Did you notice the title phase for this section: Cancer on Vitamins. Cancer cells love certain vitamins because the way vitamins function supports cancer rapid cell growth. ref (NOTE: This same study will appear in many references on this page from different sources. Some offer new information.) Here is a positive use of B1 on some cancers. But there is another story. So far this new connection for vitamin B1 is only from a few abstracts, but when you add in the fact that certain cancer drugs function by reducing available vitamin B1 activity in cells, more support for this concept is generated and this needs immediate attention to clarify! ref ref Copy from preceding reference: "When there is too much vitamin B1 there may be a risk that cancer cells grow faster." ref General info on Vitamin B1
...not heard of this before?
You very likely have not heard this one before! Vitamin B1 functions to increase energy from food and also for cell proliferation through the ribose energy connection. Since tumor cells divide very rapidly, they quickly use up vitamin B1 and a deficiency can often be found in cancer patients. But, this does not mean you should take vitamin B1 since that would also feed the cancer cells to grow faster as well. In fact, a new cancer treatment is designed to actually create a localized deficiency of Vitamin B1 to enable chemotherapy drugs greater time to kill more tumor cells and prevent residual cancer cells from returning to life later. ref ref ref
From an animal study, giving moderately high doses of Vitamin B1 at 25 times RDA (about 30 mg for Adults) resulted in a 164% increase in tumor growth, while paradoxically, at super mega dosages of 2500X RDA, a 35% reduction occurred (only under medical care). This super mega effect is not understood yet! But it is the 25X level and even less that is of concern since many supplements are available with amounts at this level. ref To find out if this also occurs in humans needs immediate clarification. Here is a reference that mentions how the mega high dose B1 takes out cancer cells. ref ref
Check this important information. ref It also has the abstract vital pieces for the B1 tumor connection. They are still controversial. This B1 connection may only take effect for certain cancers or at certain stages of the disease process. Very limited human research on this critical topic.
SIDEBAR: In some cancers, vitamin B1 is found in greater amounts in urine but measures low in blood plasma. This indicates that the body has lost the ability to convert vitamin B1 into the proper form. Cancer cells may play a role in this lost ability. They want vitamin B1 for themselves. B1 offers protection for cancer cells against the actions of some chemo-drugs. Vitamin B1 is found in greater concentrations in cancer tumors where it helps generate energy for the growing tumor, even though overall the body is deficient.
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