Those who are concerned about cancer risk, particularly stomach cancer risk may consider increasing their intake of vitamin C or vitamin C - rich fruit and or vegetables and decreasing intake of meat, particularly red meat and processed meat, a new study suggests.

The study, part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition or EPIC initiated in 1992, which involved 521,000 people in 10 European countries, found those who had highest levels of vitamin C in the blood were significantly less likely to have stomach cancer.

Additionally, vitamin C may play an important role in protecting against cancer risk associated with diet high in meat, according to the study, which was published in the November 11 issue of the journal Carcinogenesis.

EPIC has previously already linked a diet rich in vitamin C and other active compounds such as carotenoids, retinol and tocopherol with lower risk of stomach cancer risk.

In the current case-control study, researchers compared 215 people (cases) diagnosed with stomach cancer with 416 people without the disease (controls) for their dietary patterns and serum vitamin C levels in hopes that they may find some association between vitamin C intake and risk of stomach cancer.

After considering all possible risk factors such as body mass index, those who had the highest levels of vitamin C in the blood were 60 percent less likely to have stomach cancer compared to those who had lowest amounts of vitamin C in their blood, researchers found. 

However, they did not find any association between intake of fruits and vegetables, and the risk of stomach cancer.  Researchers said the overall intake of fruits and vegetables was low with the highest 3.5 servings a day, which might make any possible association between the cancer risk and vitamin C intake insignificant.  The vitamin C intake was estimated based on what the subjects ate, which was self reported

An early study published in the November 2001 issue of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention found that plant foods were linked to lower risk of fatal stomach cancer in men, but somehow not in women.

The protective effect of vitamin C against cancer has recently reported by other researchers.   Researchers have already discovered that serum vitamin C kills cancer cells, but not healthy ones. 

Many years ago, alternative doctors started IV-injecting vitamin C to treat certain cancers and results of this practice are promising. Some patients have claimed that vitamin C saved their lives.

Dr. Linus Pauling, a chemist who had won the Nobel Prize twice, did a small trial and found that cancer patients who received both conventional treatments and high doses of vitamin C had better prognosis than those who received only conventional treatments, according to his book about cancer and vitamin C.  A Canadian doctor, according to Dr. Pauling, also conducted a similar trial, but he also used other nutrients.  The results were even better.

In the current study, the protective effect of vitamin C was particularly significant among those who ate red meat and or processed meat such as hotdogs and luncheon meat in which preservatives such as nitrite and or nitrate are commonly added.  The additives can be converted into so called nitrosamines or N-nitroso compounds, which are carcinogenic, in the human stomach.

Vitamin C may help prevent formation of nitrosamines in humans, according to a scientist affiliated with foodconsumer.org.  Because of this, some experts suggest that one drinks a glass of orange juice while he is eating processed meat.  Some food manufacturers actually add vitamin C to food high in nitrite, hoping that added vitamin C prevents formation of nitrosamines.  It remains unknown whether such an approach would be effective.

Vitamin C is found abundantly in many fruits and vegetables including oranges, melons, green vegetables, sweet potatoes, carrots, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbages and tomatoes, to name a few.  But intake of vitamin C from diets may not be enough to exert a significant effect. This may be true in particular to those who have a condition.  Dr. Pauling recommended use of high doses of vitamin C supplements such as 10 grams a day or higher.

Stomach cancer hit nearly 8 in 100,000 Americans in 2003, according to the National Institute of Cancer.  Men are more susceptible to the disease than women. Black people are more likely to have the disease than the whites.  Stomach cancer is often diagnosed in the late stage in which the prognosis is very poor.

For more information about vitamin C, visits vitamin C Foundation.