This book is an update of the same title published in 1979. The book has many case histories of the patients in Vale of Leven Hospitala in Loch Lomondside, Scotland, and patients in the United States and Canada. It is an excellent reference for every cancer patient to possess and read.

The table of contents in the book has the following 4 parts
Part 1: The Nature and Causes of Cancer
Part 2: The Treatment of Cancer
Part 3: A Rational Approach to the Treatment of Cancer
Part 4: The Use of Vitamin C in the Treatment and Prevention of Cancer

Some anecdotal case histories shown below are presented in Chapter 21: Illustrative Patients from the United States and Canada.

The first patient described in the following paragraphs was reported in the medical literature in the 1950s, long before our own interest in this subject was aroused. The remaining patients presented in this chapter come from our own files, and are given with each patient's permission and after verification by perusal of the patient's medical records. Such anecdotal accounts have no statistical value; nevertheless, they seem to us to have some significance.

In 1954 Dr. Edward Greer, of Robinson, Illinois, published a report about a remarkable patient who apparently controlled his cancer (chronic myeloid leukemia) over a period of two years by the oral intake of very large amounts of vitamin C. This patient, an elderly executive of an oil company, had a number of concurrent illnesses. He developed chronic heart disease in September 1951 and was described in May 1952 as having alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver and polycythemia (an increased number of circulating red blood cells). In August 1952 the diagnosis of chronic myeloid leukemia was established and verified by an independent hematologist. In September 1952, after extraction of some of his teeth, he was advised to take some vitamin C to promote healing of his gums. He immediately began to take very large amounts, from 24.5 g to 42 g per day (seven 500-mg tablets taken 7 to 12 times a day). He said that he set this regime for himself because he felt so much better when he took these very large doses. The patient repeatedly remarked about his feeling of well-being, and he continued to work as a company executive. On two occasions Dr. Greer insisted that the vitamin C be stopped. Both times when this was done the patient's spleen and liver became enlarged, soft, and tender, his temperature rose to 1010, and he complained of general malaise and fatigue, typical leukemic symptoms. His signs and symptoms rapidly improved when the intake of vitamin C was resumed. He died of acute cardiac decompensation in March 1954, at age 73. His spleen was then firm, and the leukemia, polycythemia, cirrhosis, and myocarditis had shown no progression during the 18 months since he began his intake of large doses of vitamin C. Greer concluded that "the intake of the huge dose of ascorbic acid appeared to be essential for the welfare of the patient."

A 50-year-old housewife in British Columbia, Canada, developed painless jaundice in May 1978. Pre-operative CAT-scans demonstrated a tumor 6 cm in diameter in the head of the pancreas, obstructing the common bile duct. At surgery, the same month, the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer was confirmed and the tumor was judged to be irresectable, the surgeon's notes describing the tumor as being the size of a squash ball. A by-pass procedure was performed to relieve her jaundice. On her own initiative, she commenced taking sodium ascorbate in a dose of 12 to 16 g per day just after her release from hospital, and then increased her intake to 30 g per day in early January 1979. By this time the patient was free of all physical symptoms but had developed reactive depression related to her knowledge of the diagnosis and the predictable prognosis of her inoperable pancreatic cancer. She was referred to a psychiatrist, who encouraged her to continue with her high ascorbate intake. Two repeat CAT-scans were carried out in February 1979 and March 1979, and to everyone's surprise they showed no evidence of any residual pancreatic tumor. The patient continues to take 30 g of sodium ascorbate per day, she remains fit and well, and she is understandably no longer depressed about her illness.

The 55-year-old wife of a California physician gradually became aware of difficulty in coordinating the fine movement of her right hand. Although she taught Japanese brush painting as a hobby, her first awareness of the problem was inexplicable difficulty in writing checks and even signing her own name to these checks in the supermarket. These rather vague symptoms commenced somewhere around July or August 1978, and steadily progressed to partial weakness of the whole right arm, some weakness of the right leg, a partial facial paresis, and increasing difficulty in speaking and in swallowing because of inability to coordinate the movements of her tongue. Within a matter of weeks she was considerably disabled. She consulted a leading neurosurgeon at Stanford Medical Center in September 1978, who, on the basis of her symptoms, her abnormal neurological signs, and the clear evidence of a brain scan, made a firm diagnosis of a 2.5-cm-diameter tumor lying deep in the left cerebral hemisphere. On the clear evidence before him, the neurosurgeon correctly advised immediate operation, but warned her that because of the anatomical location of the tumor she would be left with a permanent degree of hemiparesis (paralysis of the right arm and leg). The prospect terrified her, and she refused to accept this advice. She consulted another experienced neurosurgeon, who independently confirmed the diagnosis of brain tumor and made the same strong recommendation for immediate life-saving surgery. Again she refused, in spite of her husband's worried insistence. At this point she was becoming desperate. On a relative's suggestion, gleaned from a newspaper article, she commenced taking vitamin C in September 1978 at a dose of 10 grams per day. She now freely admits that this was an act of despair and that she did not really expect any benefit to ensue.

By late October 1978 she was aware of some symptomatic improvement, with some return of power and coordination in her right arm and leg, and a repeat brain-scan carried out at that time showed that the tumor had not only diminished somewhat in size but had acquired a somewhat fuzzy outline and a somewhat fragmented appearance. Her symptomatic improvement continued and by late December 1978 no evidence of any tumor could be seen on a repeat brain-scan. The patient remains fit and extremely well, still taking 10 grams of vitamin C per day, and appears to have made a virtually complete recovery from her life-threatening illness. A barely noticeable drooping of one corner of her mouth is the only obvious residual disability. She is regarded by her neurosurgeons at Stanford Medical Center as having enjoyed a complete "spontaneous" regression.

An elderly woman, living in a retirement community in Florida with her husband, was totally bedridden and in severe pain in January 1978 because of widespread skeletal and visceral metastases from breast cancer. At this point she commenced taking sodium ascorbate, rapidly building up to an intake of 24 g per day. She experienced appreciable relief from intolerable bone pain and was soon able to enjoy short walks along the beach with her husband. However, this relief proved to be very short-lived. Liver metastases that were known to be present expanded, producing portal-vein obstruction with tense ascites, and after a very rapid downhill course, during which time she was unable to take any supplemental vitamin C, she died from extensive carcinomatosis in late March 1978.

In March 1976 a 69-year-old retired executive living near Carmel, California, was found to have cancer of the prostate. This was treated by local irradiation with good effect and the patient commenced taking ascorbic acid, 1 g per day. In July 1978, however, he developed severe backache and was found to have quite extensive skeletal metastases. The disease was treated by bilateral orchidectomy (to reduce male hormone production) and palliative radiotherapy to the thoraco-lumbar spine. At this point the patient increased his ascorbate regime to 6 g per day. The total therapeutic response has been excellent and this patient is now clinically, radiologically, and biochemically free of malignant disease. Such an excellent therapeutic response could, of course, be attributed to the orchidectomy alone, but we suspect that the ascorbate has contributed to the happy outcome.

A 40-year-old hospital engineer in San Francisco was forced into premature retirement on the grounds of ill health in 1974. His complaints were of steadily increasing lassitude and constant bone pain. Initially he was wrongly diagnosed as suffering from aplastic anemia, and he was treated by steroids and repeated blood transfusions as required. His condition continued to deteriorate and further investigations in 1976 including bone marrow biopsy established the correct diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia of the so-called "hairy cell" (T-lymphocyte) type. He had extensive bone-marrow infiltration with a number of pathological crush fractures of his vertebrae and was considerably disabled. Treatment by steroids was discontinued on the ground that it could be aggravating his osteoporosis. No chemotherapy or radiotherapy was given. The patient himself started to treat his condition in December 1977 with 35 g of vitamin C per day. He claims to have experienced symptomatic relief within a matter of weeks. In April 1978 a splenectomy was performed on the advice of his attending physician.
The patient continues to ingest 35 g of vitamin C per day and remains in complete clinical and hematological remission without any other treatment. While this particular type of leukemia may often pursue a relatively benign and protracted course, there would seem to be little doubt that, in this patient, the transition from a dying to a recovering situation coincided exactly with his commencement of vitamin C. He describes himself now as "the healthiest sick man around," and his physician's most recent note confirms this with the statement "basically has no disease currently." Apart from symptomatic relief, the most striking change since starting suppplemental ascorbate has been a reduction in his blood-transfusion requirements from 6 to 8 pints every five or six weeks to zero, a clear indication that his bone marrow is recovering. The patient is now leading an active life, enjoying his premature retirement, and currently building his own new home in northern California.

The Chief of Pathology at a large hospital in Florida developed an indolent skin rash in 1976, soon followed by discomfort below the left shoulder and what he describes as "spells of peculiar weakness and nausea." A skin biopsy and peripheral blood films were examined by both conventional and electron microscopy by a number of authorities. Some difference of opinion existed, but the majority view, with which the patient himself, an experienced pathologist, concurred, was that the diagnosis was mycosis fungoides. This is a rare form of malignancy arising in the reticulo-endothelial system and related to Hodgkin's disease, which characteristically starts with skin manifestations and then proceeds to systemic involvement. To quote the patient, "Having long heard about high vitamin C therapy, and knowing the dismal features of mycosis fungoides, I began taking 4 grams a day on June 7, 1978; the skin lesions rapidly improved, and within a few months my painful left arm (where x-rays had shown a periostitis [inflammation of the membrane about a bone] accepted to be a systemic manifestation of mycosis fungoides) had completely recovered." At present he is well, apart from a few small residual skin lesions, is actively at work in charge of a large department of pathology, and is still taking 3 g of vitamin C per day. He himself has no doubt about the correctness of the diagnosis and is certain that his improvement has been the direct result of his taking vitamin C.

A 71-year-old man, living in Wisconsin, was first diagnosed as having bladder cancer in 1968. From 1968 until 1975 he had eleven operations (repeated cystodiathermy, repeated transurethral resection) and a course of megavoltage radiotherapy in an attempt to control his disease. During this time he had almost constant hematuria, and he estimates that he "must have bled gallons." In 1975, as a result of reading a magazine article, he began taking 3 g of sodium ascorbate per day. Quite soon thereafter his hematuria ceased abruptly, and it has never recurred. Repeated cystoscopic examinations have shown him to be free of tumor since he started his ascorbate regime.

A man living in Florida had become progressively unwell throughout the whole of 1976 with a puzzling illness of increasing weakness, bone pain, and rectal and nasal bleeding. The correct diagnosis of multiple myeloma was established in February 1977. He had a markedly elevated gamma globulin concentration in his blood, a diagnostic feature of this form of malignancy. As soon as the diagnosis was established he began taking ascorbic acid, rapidly building up to a tolerance level of 40 g per day. Within 5 days his rectal bleeding ceased. While still continuing his ascorbic acid, he commenced a 5-drug chemotherapeutic regime, and after 10 months his blood values had returned to normal and a repeat bone-marrow biopsy showed no evidence of any residual myeloma cells. It is interesting to note that as his condition improved his tolerance level for ascorbate fell from 40 to around 20 g per day, indicating a diminished requirement as his disease was brought under control. At the time this man's illness was diagnosed he was in constant pain and barely able to get out of bed; even before chemotherapy was commenced he was aware of distinct symptomatic improvement, and when last heard from he was busily constructing an extension to his home. The skilled chemotherapy undoubtedly contributed to this man's present well-being, but his early response was so rapid and so good that we have no doubt that his vitamin C also contributed to the outcome.

A 50-year-old patient in Milwaukee was found to have cancer of the right lung in August 1977. He had smoked heavily for thirty-two years. A right middle and lower lobectomy (surgical removal of two-thirds of the lung) was performed the same month. The tumor was found to be an undifferentiated squamous-cell epithelioma, a type usually associated with a relatively poor prognosis. His immediate post-operative recovery was quite satisfactory, but in July 1978 a metastasis was discovered in the left lung. Although metastases rarely occur singly, this lesion was also surgically removed and proved to be a metastasis and not a new primary tumor. Soon after the second operation in August 1978 the patient commenced taking 20 g of sodium ascorbate each day, later reduced to 12 g per day. At the time of writing he is reported to be in excellent health, back at work, and enthusiastic about cycling.

A 29-year-old housewife in West Virginia became progressively unwell throughout 1977 with weight loss, weakness, nausea, and night sweats. Chest x-rays showed a large centrally-placed mediastinal mass, thought at first to be a thyoma. However, at surgery carried out in March 1978 the mass was found to be extensive involvement of the mediastinal lymph glands by Hodgkin's disease. As many glands as possible were removed and the patient was given post-operative radiotherapy. Chemotherapy was strongly advised but refused by the patient, who instead elected to take 10 g of vitamin C per day. Her progress has been much better than expected, and she is now in apparent good health. It is reported in her local newspaper that "if one is up early enough, one might catch a glimpse of this mother of two young children jogging steadily on her mile-long course near her home.

The president of a southern California company, a life-long non-smoker, had a negative chest x-ray in 1974. In November of 1977, while still feeling perfectly well, he commenced taking 10 g of vitamin C per day as a general health measure. Just a few weeks later he was found on routine examination to have an opacity 2.5 cm in diameter in the right lung, suspicious but not absolutely diagnostic of lung cancer. Surgical exploration was advised but, because of the doubt about the diagnosis and his own sense of well-being, it was refused by the patient, who continued his self-prescribed ascorbate regime. Repeat chest x-rays throughout the following year showed no change, increase or decrease, in the size of the lesion. Eventually he was persuaded that surgery was advisable, and in August 1978 a partial pneumonectomy was performed and the lesion was found to be a primary lung cancer. His postoperative recovery is said to have been much faster than normal, with rapid wound healing, and the patient remains fit and well at the time of writing, and a strong advocate of the value of vitamin C. It appears more than possible that the growth of this man's lung cancer was arrested for over nine months, during which time he maintained a regular high ascorbate intake.

In early 1976 a middle-aged Southern Californian had a semi-emergency palliative operation to remove a mass of undifferentiated carcinomatous tissue which had been pressing on the thoracic spinal cord. Prior to surgery he had been unwell for about a year, culminating in total paralysis of both lower limbs and loss of bladder and bowel control. The source of this metastasis was never established. Surgery was followed by radiotherapy to the affected area, and chemotherapy for eighteen months, but throughout that time he made no progress; he could not walk or even turn himself over in bed. Having read a magazine article on the alleged merits of vitamin C, he on his own initiative began taking 10 g per day, and he reports that "inside three weeks I could get out of bed by myself and then I was going from bed to the wheelchair without assistance". Now, nearly three years later, and still on 10 g of vitamin C per day, he appears to have made an almost complete recovery and is playing a vigorous part in his local community affairs.

In 1968 a ski instructor, then only 22 years of age, was operated on for malignant pheochromocytoma, a somewhat rare slow-growing hormone-producing tumor of the adrenal gland. Initially the operation was regarded as being quite successful, but his symptoms gradually recurred and his condition became untreatable by any conventional means. By late 1977 the tumor had recurred locally to compress the vena cava and he was noted to have widespread intra-abdominal metastases. On his own initiative he began taking ascorbic acid, 30 g per day, in January 1978, gradually building up to 80 g per day by March 1979. To quote his own words: "for several years I had lived in unbearable pain and distress," but within a few months he was quite free of pain and able to return to his former activities. He continues well, running a holiday camp in the Sierra for children in the summer months and instructing in winter sports during the season.

An 83-year-old woman of Allentown, Pennsylvania, was admitted to her local hospital in February 1977 following a gastro-intestinal hemorrhage. X-rays of the alimentary tract disclosed no abnormality other than a "gastric polyp," apparently benign. As an incidental finding, she was discovered to have a left pleural effusion which required to be aspirated on three occasions in a relatively short time, and the aspirated fluid was found on each occasion to contain clumps of typical adenocarcinoma cells. A most thorough investigation by various specialists failed to discover the primary source for her disseminated malignancy, although suspicion must center on the allegedly benign gastric polyp. No treatment was advised. In early March 1977 she began ascorbic acid at the level of 10 g per day and has continued ever since. She remains fit and well, her pleural effusion has never recurred, and regular chest x-rays and serum biochemistry results are always normal.

The elderly wife of a New England artist had a hysterectomy for endometrial cancer 27 years ago, and enjoyed robust health for many years thereafter, and, to quote, "smoking like a chimneystack!" In May 1977 she was hospitalized because of increasing breathlessness and persistent cough, and was found to have tumors in both lungs. The malignant nature of these tumors was confirmed by biopsy, but their precise nature (primary, or metastatic from some unknown primary or from the long-forgotten endometrial cancer) could not be determined with any confidence. The situation was regarded as hopeless and untreatable. While in hospital she commenced taking 15 g of vitamin C per day and at the time of writing, over two years later, she claims to be in perfect health. Serial chest x-rays are reported to show regression of both lung tumors, but we have not yet had the opportunity to examine the original films.

In November 1976 the 80-year-old mother-in-law of a New Jersey investment banker had emergency surgery for strangulated femoral hernia. During the course of surgery a suspiciously enlarged lymph gland was discovered in the groin; it was removed and was found to be the site of lymphosarcoma. Further investigations including lymphangiography demonstrated extensive involvement of most pelvic and para-aortic lymph nodes (Stage III lymphosarcomatosis). A palliative course of radiotherapy was given without expectation of cure, and the patient herself commenced taking vitamin C, about 10 g per day. At the time of writing, some two and a half years after she began taking vitamin C, this woman pleasurably surprises her therapists by remaining well without any clinical suspicion of any active disease.

The 67-year-ofd father of a trained nurse was admitted to a hospital in Long Beach in March 1977 following a major gastro-intestinal hemorrhage. It was soon discovered that this had arisen from a carcinoma of the stomach. A partial gastrectomy was carried out; the tumor had already spread to the regional lymph nodes (which were removed) and to the underlying pancreas (which was not). He entered a trial program to try to determine the value of chemotherapy in gastric cancer, but was allocated to the "no-treatment" control group. At his daughter's instigation, he commenced taking 12 g of sodium ascorbate per day around April 1977. His immediate progress was reasonably satisfactory but by October of that year some deterioration was noted. By that time he had fairly clear clinical (nodular enlargement of the cervical lymph nodes) and biochemical (high alkaline phosphatase level) evidence of malignant dissemination. For this he was hospitalized, and, bereft of his vitamin C, he appeared to deteriorate fairly quickly. Again at his daughter's insistence, he was removed from hospital and commenced again on vitamin C, this time at a daily intake of 20 g, steadily increasing to 28 g. The immediate response is said to have been dramatic, with resolution of the enlarged cervical lymph nodes and a sharp drop in his serum alkaline phosphatase levels to the normal range. For the next 16 months he remained well and symptom-free. He was readmitted to his original hospital in Long Beach in April 1979, following an acute attack of gallstone colic. Appropriate radiology demonstrated a diseased gallbladder containing many stones; surgery was performed, the diseased gallbladder was removed, and the surgeon could see no evidence of any residual intra-abdominal malignancy. The patient made an excellent recovery from this second operation, continues to take 28 g of sodium ascorbate a day, and is reported to be enjoying life to the full.

We have failed to obtain the medical and hospital records of this patient, but have little doubt as to the authenticity of the report. The patient is a little boy, now eight years old, living in New Jersey. His mother wrote to us first in February 1978, saying that she had been giving her young son "large doses" of vitamin C for over a year in an apparently successful attempt to restrain his malignant brain tumor. Prior to starting vitamin C in late 1976, the youngster had undergone three unsuccessful surgical attempts to remove the lesion completely, and had had a course of radiotherapy that "didn't help at all" and a course of chemotherapy that was "very rough on his system." By February 1978, after more than a year on vitamin C, repeat brain scans had shown no increase in the size of the tumor, and he was judged by his doctors to be "now stable" and "neurologically in good shape." A request by the authors for details of his further progress elicited a reply from his mother on 22 May 1979 that the little boy "is still doing very well," some two and a half years after being started on vitamin C. The reason why we cannot obtain verification from perusal of the medical records of this particular patient is both absurd and illuminating: the fact that this little lad is ingesting high doses of vitamin C has been kept secret from his doctors, and his mother earnestly requests that this should remain so. In her letters she expresses the wish to be able to make some useful contribution to cancer research but says that "excessive medical bills" preclude any such donation.

A retired business executive of Calgary, Alberta, then age 77, came to thoracotomy (an operation involving cutting the wall of the chest) in June 1977 after a vague and somewhat indeterminate period of illness. The surgeon's operation notes describe the excision of a tumor of the diaphragmatic pleura which on immediate frozen-section examination was thought to be "highly malignant undifferentiated carcinoma, primary unknown," and multiple other metastatic lesions scattered elsewhere throughout the pleural covering of the lung, a few of which were biopsied and found to show the same microscopic appearance. A more leisurely and thorough microscopic examination of the resected tumor and the biopsies of the other lesions established the final diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma of the pleura. No further treatment was advised in such a notoriously hopeless situation, other than three injections of 5-fluorouracil at weekly intervals, which evoked considerable systemic upset including a widespread skin reaction.
On his own initiative, this patient began taking supplemental ascorbate on 3 July 1977, starting at 10 g per day and quickly building up to 25 g per day by 17 July, the level he has maintained ever since. When last heard from, in late May 1979, this patient remained fit and well, with repeated chest x-rays, isotope study of the liver, and CAT brain scans showing no trace of any active disease. As a deeply concerned layman, he has written to the Canadian authorities some highly perceptive proposals as to how proper therapeutic trials of cancer should be conducted. A response is still awaited.

We include the following story to illustrate the dangers of accepting anecdotal evidence at face value. A charming 69-year-old woman living in the timber country near the California-Oregon border had a mastectomy for Stage-lI breast cancer in June 1975. Towards the end of 1976 she developed an expanding painful metastasis in the bony pelvis, confirmed by plain radiography and isotope bone scan. She then began high daily intakes of vitamin C, and two years later reported enthusiastically that her pain had been dramatically relieved and that a repeat bone scan had shown the skeletal metastases to be very much reduced in size. We have since acquired her medical records, which confirm all these statements. However, we discovered that she had failed to mention that during the same period the pelvic metastasis had been surgically curetted, that the metastatic breast-cancer cells had been found to have estrogen receptors, that she had been treated with estrogens, and that palliative radiotherapy had been given to the painful area. Her overall beneficial response must certainly be attributed in large part to these conventional measures, but this does not mean that her supplemental ascorbate played no beneficial role. At the time of writing, there has been a very slow progression of her illness in spite of continuing with estrogens and ascorbate and further courses of palliative radiotherapy.

A retired U.S. Navy admiral and decorated veteran of the Battles of Midway and Coral Sea was diagnosed in January 1971 as having prostatic cancer, confirmed by biopsy. Stilbestrol was advised but refused by the patient because of lack of symptoms and its possible feminizing effects. By late 1971 the tumor was judged by his urologist to be progressing and the patient began taking vitamin C, 8 g per day. By March 1972 the primary tumor was judged to be somewhat smaller, and the patient reduced his vitamin C intake to 1 g per day. By mid 1974 the urologist considered that the tumor was again progressing and strongly advised local radiotherapy, but this was refused by the patient, who instead increased his vitamin C intake to 10 g daily together with oral Laetrile. He remained virtually symptom-free until the spring of 1978, when a transurethral resection of the prostatic tumor was required to alleviate bladder-neck obstruction and when a bone scan indicated metastases in the bony pelvis. The patient refused estrogens and increased his vitamin C intake to 12 g per day. Metastatic bone pain continued intermittently over the summer months of 1978, with steady increase in the serum acid phosphatase level, clearly indicating progressive malignant activity. Treatment by estrogens was strongly advised but again refused by the patient, who instead increased his daily vitamin C intake to 20 g. In October 1978 he sought treatment in a private clinic in Jamaica, where in addition to his regular high vitamin C intake he was given high doses of vitamin A and placed on a strict vegetarian diet, apparently with good effect. He suffered a stroke in April 1979, but has recovered nearly completely and is again active and apparently free of symptoms of cancer. The management of this patient, decided by himself, has been quite unorthodox and inadvisable—it is almost certain that he would have derived considerable benefit from estrogens, as originally recommended. However, he, at age 78, does represent an example of prostatic cancer maintained under reasonable control for a period of over eight years without the benefit of hormonal measures, and with the fluctuating activity of his cancer directly related to his level of ascorbate intake.

In February 1975 the 55-year-old wife of a farmer in Ohio had a brain tumor surgically removed. Microscopic examination of the tumor showed it to be a metastatic adenocarcinoma from some unsuspected primary tumor elsewhere. Thorough investigations were carried out at that time but the primary tumor could not be located. The patient began taking a multipurpose vitamin preparation. During 1976 she developed gradually increasing abdominal discomfort, culminating in the need for exploratory surgery, which was carried out in November of that year. A primary adenocarcinoma of the small intestine with metastases to one other part of the small intestine and to the spleen was discovered, and all three intra-abdominal tumors were removed. Immediately following her abdominal surgery she began taking vitamin C, rapidly increasing to a steady intake of 10 to 12 g per day. Two and a half years later, the patient continues in perfect health with no clinical or biochemical evidence of any active malignant disease.

In July 1977 the 72-year-old father of a professor in a technical institute had a pulmonary lobectomy performed for a well-differentiated squamous-cell carcinoma of the right lung. The prognosis was thought to be good, but barely a year later he developed in the opposite lung a tumor that at surgery was found to be irresectable. Following this second operation in August 1978 the patient was given palliative radiotherapy to the left lung tumor and began taking sodium ascorbate, 10 g per day. More recently a regular high intake of vitamin A has been added to this regime. As of June 1979, the patient was clinically well and was described by his son as being "strong and alert." When considered in comparison with the usual rapid downhill course of metastasizing lung cancer, this must be considered as somewhat persuasive evidence that his megavitamin regime is effectively restraining progressive malignant growth.

A man of 75 living in Oregon was found in January 1978 to have an inoperable carcinoma of the lung involving mediastinal lymph glands and with possible metastasis to the left kidney. Some palliative chemotherapy was given soon after the diagnosis was reached, but it had to be discontinued because of adverse side-effects. He began taking 10 g of ascorbic acid per day in February 1978. Chest x-rays taken in June 1978 showed no appreciable increase or decrease in the size of the tumor, but the patient felt fit enough to embark on a family vacation to Hawaii. By July 1978 repeat chest x-ray examination is reported to show appreciable reduction in the size of the primary lung tumor. The patient has since continued on a high daily ascorbate regime, and at the time of writing, eighteen months after starting ascorbate, he is reported to be in "average" health for a septuagenarian busily tending a 2¼-acre productive garden. It is perhaps worth noting that this patient attributes his continuing good health in part to vitamin C and in part to his active participation in a mutual self-help cancer counseling regime.

In April 1969 the 47-year-old wife of a biochemist had a hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy for bilateral ovarian cancer, followed by a standard course of post-operative irradiation. In January 1970 emergency surgery had to be performed for the relief of post-operative adhesions causing intestinal obstruction; no obvious tumor was present at this second operation. Her recovery from this apparently simple mechanical problem was, however, less than satisfactory; her condition steadily deteriorated and further surgery was required in October 1970 for the removal of a mass of metastatic ovarian carcinoma obstructing the colon. Continued symptoms required yet another surgical intervention in late December 1970, when a palliative colostomy was performed to relieve persistent malignant large bowel obstruction. During the course of this operation it was noted that innumerable peritoneal metastases were present. Based on such a finding, a prognosis of six months or less to live was understandably given. In January 1971, after dismissal from hospital, a palliative course of chemotherapy using Leukeran (chlorambucil) was given and continued for 20 months. At the same time the patient began the regular intake of vitamin C, varying from 3 to 12 g per day adjusted according to bowel tolerance.
In October 1973 further surgery was required for the repair of an incisional hernia and at that time, after 20 months of Leukeran and high Vitamin C ingestion, no evidence of any residual intra-abdominal cancer was found. The chemotherapy was terminated and the patient has continued to ingest the same large amounts of ascorbate through the time of writing, almost six years later. At the present time she is reported to be perfectly fit and well with no suspicion of any active malignant disease. Even the most enthusiastic oncologist would hardly expect a "five-year-cure" in disseminated ovarian cancer from such a relatively low-potency chemotherapeutic agent as Leukeran; we must therefore conclude that her consistent high intake of vitamin C, with undoubted help from her original surgery, her initial post-operative radiotherapy, and her chemotherapy, has contributed to the present happy outcome.

CONCLUSION

This group of patients has been selected from our files to show that supplemental ascorbate appears to have some restraining influence upon a wide variety of malignant tumors. In the present state of our knowledge it is our opinion that supplemental ascorbate is of some value in all forms of cancer and can prove to be of quite dramatic benefit to a fortunate few, as described in this chapter and in the preceding chapter.
The anecdotal evidence given in these two chapters supports our view that supplemental ascorbate should be considered not as an alternative form of cancer treatment but rather as an important supportive measure, with the potential to enhance all well-established cancer therapeutic regimes. Our views about the value of supplemental ascorbate in total cancer management are discussed in the following two chapters.