Now that my husband has been declared in remission from his stage III base of tongue cancer (T2N1)......my research regarding chemo-prevention has discovered benefits of vitamin A... I write to ask your opinion regarding this supplement at this time as well as recommended dosage and any other information you can provide as we remain entirely proactive in preventing the predicted recurrence and appreciate your kind professional opinion. It is very difficult to talk with his Veterans' Administration physicians about alternative options as their formulary, although obviously successful, is limited to cytotoxic measures. Thank you so much for your considering my question and any feedback you can provide would be much appreciated!
Nancy

According to the respected Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center's website, there is no proof that taking extra Vitamin A can prevent recurrence of cancer.

quote:

A recent review of 14 clinical trials shows that supplementation with antioxidants beta-carotene, vitamins A, C, and E does not seem to prevent gastrointestinal cancer and may actually increase overall mortality.

Indian researchers have conducted a small pilot trial of vitamin A supplementation in patients who had been successfully treated for head or neck cancers (among the most common cancers in both men and women in southern India): Vitamin A and recurrences of head and neck cancer

quote:

The findings of this study suggest that vitamin A supplementation, while effective in preventing the development of second primary head and neck cancers, might increase the risk of loco-regional recurrence. Although the increase may have been due to chance in this small study, the authors consider it to be a cause for concern. They are presently conducting long-term studies with larger numbers of subjects to see whether vitamin A supplementation can reduce the risk of cancer in patients with oral precancerous lesions and second tumors in patients with head and neck cancer.

R Jyothirmayi, K Ramadas, C Varghese, R Jacob, MK Nair, and R Sankaranarayanan, Efficacy of Vitamin A in the Prevention of Loco-regional Recurrence and Second Primaries in Head and Neck Cancer, Oral Oncology, European J Cancer 32B(6):373-376 (Nov 1996)

I have been unable to find more information about it but hope that helps.

Best wishes
Vinod

I know your question was for Dr. Joshi, but I thought I'd add a few more reliable websites for information about supplements, complimentary and alternative therapies, as well as outright quackery.

The Sloan Kettering site that Dr. J. referenced is my favorite but I have two others that provide info in case SK hasn't performed an evaluation:

This one is from the US National Library of Medicine and has all sorts of health info and is easy to navigate. It provides info in over forty languages!

MedicinePlus

Quackwatch is a good one but is more difficult to maneuver. If you put 'vitamin A' in the Search field, it gives you every single word on the website that contains the letter 'A.' Yikes!
You can scroll though the alphabetical list on the home page though and eventually find what you're looking for.

Quackwatch

What wonderful news that your husband is in remission! I'm only about 6 weeks out from treatment but am doing fine and believe myself to be in remission as well (there I go again, practicing medicine without a diploma).

Best of luck to both of you.

Mimi

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mimi McC,

Thank you so much Dr. Joshi for your response and comprehensive info and also special thanks to Mimi as well! I will definitely be perusing the sites you have provided. I appreciate you!!! and, Mimi!!... Keep me updated on your post treatment scans! I too believe you are in remission!!!
Nancy