Nutrition Report: Water-Soluble Vitamins and Cancer Treatment Analysis

This report provides an in-depth analysis of water-soluble vitamins, with a specific focus on Vitamin C and its potential in cancer treatment. The report begins by defining water-soluble vitamins and their importance in maintaining good health, emphasizing that they are not stored in the body and must be consumed daily. It then delves into Vitamin C's role, discussing its debated history in cancer therapy and recent findings that show its cytotoxic effects on cancer cells, particularly when administered intravenously. The report highlights research on Human colorectal cancers (CRCs) and the impact of Vitamin C on KRAS and BRAF mutant cells. It explains the mechanisms by which Vitamin C, through the intake of oxidized vitamin C (DHA), leads to cell death by targeting GAPDH and creating an energy crisis in these cells. Furthermore, the report underscores the potential of combining Vitamin C with conventional chemotherapy to enhance cancer therapy success rates and concludes that Vitamin C is a valuable medicine for cancer treatment.

Running head: VITAMINS SOLUBLE IN WATER
Vitamins Soluble in Water
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author’s name

1VITAMINS SOLUBLE IN WATER
Vitamins are the organic compounds or macronutrients which are required in little
amount every day to live a healthy life. Vitamins do a certain number of essential functions
which are very important for keeping the best health condition. Food is the primary source for
acquiring most of the vitamins. Vitamin being a macronutrient means that human beings cannot
produce all types of vitamins, and thus food is necessary as being a chief source of vitamin.
Water-soluble vitamins are a kind of vitamin that is not stored in the body but get transferred
directly to the body’s tissues. They are found in the plant and animal food or dietary supplements
and should be ingested daily. Since the water-soluble vitamins are passed out of the body
through the urine at a constant rate; thus, it is crucial to get a continuous regular quantity of these
vitamins in the diet. Water-soluble vitamins are very quickly destructible during the storage
period (extension.colostate.edu, 2019).
Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid), which is a water-soluble vitamin, is essential in preventing
cancer. Higher dosage of vitamin C in cancer therapy has a debatable history. From different
historical researches, there is a significant amount of proof that reveals that vitamin C can
destroy the tumor; however, the other vitamins have displayed to do little effect. The
contradictory results of the past researches have a certain number of unclear differences; yet, the
results of the recent investigations have revealed that the inconsistent clinical data stems, in some
part at least, since variances in management way; the milli-molar plasma aggregation of vitamin
C is highly cytotoxic to the cancer cells and can be achieved only through IV and not by oral
medication (Tian et al., 2014). Most of the Human colorectal cancers (CRCs) comprise of either
(KRAS) or (BRAF) gene transformations, which often becomes contrary to the allowed cancer
therapy. The study suggests that the cultured colorectal cancer cells comprising of the KRAS or
BRAF gene alterations are explicitly destroyed when they are brought to a more considerable

2VITAMINS SOLUBLE IN WATER
amount of vitamin C (Yun et al., 2015). When there is a rise in the intake of oxidized vitamin C,
Dehydroascorbate (DHA), via the GLUT1 glucose transporter, it results in the death of the
KRAS and BRAF mutational gene. Higher intake of DHA results in the oxidative stress as DHA
and glutathione inside the cell is decreased due to the transformation to vitamin C. Thus, reactive
oxygen species (ROS) gathers and disables glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase
(GAPDH). Disabling the glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase in vastly glycolytic KRAS
or BRAF transformed cells directs to an energy crisis and cell death which cannot be seen in
KRAS and BRAF wild-type cells (Yun et al., 2015).
Additionally, several studies have revealed that when vitamin C and conventional
chemotherapy are combined, they can enhance the success rate of cancer therapy (Hoffer et al.,
2015). From the perspective of the metabolic effect, it can be concluded that vitamin C plays a
vital role in maintaining glucose and GSH metabolism. Vitamin C persuades in elevating the
oxidation of GSH and ROS level. Thus it leads the ROS to accumulate and restrict the GAPDH,
which results in the death of glycolytic KRAS and BRAF transformed cells. Therefore, Vitamin
C is a valuable medicine, and if combined with conventional chemotherapy will result in the
enhancement of cancer therapy (Hoffer et al., 2015).

3VITAMINS SOLUBLE IN WATER
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