Is Vitamin C high dose Safe with Doxorubicin?
Free · No account · based on published sources including NIH ODS, FDA drug labels, and peer-reviewed literature
Do not use high-dose vitamin C during anthracycline therapy without oncology approval.
Why this interaction occurs
Doxorubicin exerts cytotoxic effects partly through reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. High-dose vitamin C may act as an antioxidant that neutralizes these ROS, potentially reducing tumor cell kill. Preclinical and some clinical data suggest antioxidant interference with anthracycline-based oxidative mechanisms.
Evidence
Evidence level: moderate.
Data source
Heaney et al., Cancer Research 2008; Hoppe et al., J Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology 2021; Nsairat et al., JAHA 2025; Shimpo et al., American J Clinical Nutrition 1991
Reported safety data
The FDA’s adverse event reporting system (FAERS) has received 109,696 reports mentioning Doxorubicin. This reflects reported cases involving the medication in general — not confirmed causation, and not specific to the Doxorubicin + supplement combination on this page.
FAERS reports are voluntary and cannot prove that a drug caused an event. Do not use report counts to assess the safety of this specific drug-supplement pair.
Frequently asked questions
Related interactions
All Vitamin C high dose interactions → · All Doxorubicin interactions →
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Educational only — not medical advice.
Always confirm with your doctor or pharmacist.