Is Vitamin C high dose Safe with Paclitaxel?
Free · No account · based on published sources including NIH ODS, FDA drug labels, and peer-reviewed literature
Avoid supplemental high-dose Vitamin C (>1g/day) during paclitaxel therapy. Discuss dietary antioxidant intake with your oncologist prior to each chemotherapy cycle.
Why this interaction occurs
Paclitaxel induces apoptosis in cancer cells partly through mitochondrial oxidative stress pathways. High-dose ascorbic acid may attenuate ROS-mediated apoptotic signaling in tumor cells. In vitro studies and some clinical pharmacology data suggest antioxidant interference with taxane-induced cell death pathways.
Evidence
Evidence level: limited.
Reported safety data
The FDA’s adverse event reporting system (FAERS) has received 91,120 reports mentioning Paclitaxel. This reflects reported cases involving the medication in general — not confirmed causation, and not specific to the Paclitaxel + 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 Paclitaxel interactions →
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Educational only — not medical advice.
Always confirm with your doctor or pharmacist.