Enhanced Anticancer Effect of Adding Magnesium to Vitamin C Therapy: Inhibition of Hormetic Response by SVCT-2 Activation.

l-Ascorbic acid (vitamin C, AA) is known as an antioxidant, but at high concentrations, AA can kill cancer cells through a prooxidant property. Sodium-dependent vitamin C transporter family-2 (SVCT-2) determines the cellular uptake of AA, and the activity of SVCT-2 is directly related to the anticancer activity of AA. Cancer cells that showed high SVCT-2 expression levels were more sensitive to AA treatment than cancer cells with low SVCT-2 expression levels.

Yeast (1 → 3)-(1 → 6)-β-d-glucan alleviates immunosuppression in gemcitabine-treated mice.

Gemcitabine (2'-deoxy-2',2'-difluorocytidine, dFdC) is one of the most effective chemotherapy drugs commonly used for treatment of various tumors. Despite its significant anticancer effects, some adverse effects create obstacles to treatment. The main toxicity of gemcitabine is myelosuppression, which not only reduces patient quality of life, but also hinders further anticancer treatment.

Hormetic dose response to -ascorbic acid as an anti-cancer drug in colorectal cancer cell lines according to SVCT-2 expression.

-Ascorbic acid (vitamin C, AA) exhibits anti-cancer effects with high-dose treatment through the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and selective damage to cancer cells. The anti-cancer effects of -ascorbic acid are determined by sodium-dependent vitamin C transporter 2 (SVCT-2), a transporter of -ascorbic acid. In this study, we demonstrate that -ascorbic acid treatment showed efficient anti-cancer activity in cell lines with high expression levels of SVCT-2 for a gradient concentration of -ascorbic acid from 10 μM -2 mM.