Nutrition & DietDaily Vitamin C Cuts Deaths by More Than Half in Blood Cancer Precursor Trial
A randomized, double-blind trial called EVITA tested daily 1,000 mg vitamin C in 109 people with precancerous or low-risk blood cancers. While vitamin C did not slow abnormal cell growth — the primary goal — it produced notable secondary benefits: fewer cases of anemia, pneumonia, and internal bleeding, plus favorable shifts in inflammatory signaling. Most strikingly, an exploratory survival analysis showed only 11 deaths in the vitamin C group versus 24 in the placebo group over nearly three years. Researchers attribute the potential mechanism to vitamin C's ability to activate TET enzymes, which regulate gene expression and are commonly suppressed in blood cancers. A larger phase 3 trial is needed before clinical recommendations can be made.
