ArticleSupportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer2017
An open-label pilot study of oral vitamin C as an opioid-sparing agent in patients with chronic pain secondary to cancer.
Article in Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Clinical efficacy and safety of oral and intravenous vitamin C use in patients with malignant diseases.Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2021Review
- High-Dose Vitamin C in Advanced-Stage Cancer Patients.Nutrients · 2021Review
- Glutathione and Glutathione-Like Sequences of Opioid and Aminergic Receptors Bind Ascorbic Acid, Adrenergic and Opioid Drugs Mediating Antioxidant Function: Relevance for Anesthesia and Abuse.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Article
- Vitamin C, Pain and Opioid Use Disorder.Integrative medicine (Encinitas, Calif.) · 2020Review
- Vitamin C in the critically ill - indications and controversies.World journal of critical care medicine · 2018Review
- The role of vitamin C in the treatment of pain: new insights.Journal of translational medicine · 2017Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of oral Vitamin C as an opioid-sparing agent when used in conjunction with opioids and standard adjuvant therapy in the management of chronic cancer pain.
methodsAn open-label pilot study of patients ≥18 years of age with chronic pain secondary to cancer and/or its treatment and a Brief Pain Inventory average pain score of ≥3/10. In addition to opioid analgesia, patients received 1 g of vitamin C twice daily over 3 days (total daily dose of 2 g). Patients' usual medications, including breakthrough medications, were continued throughout the study period. The primary endpoint was total daily opioid use during vitamin C administration compared with that immediately prior to study.
resultsThirty-four patients were enrolled in the study. Seven failed to complete the trial. Across the 17 evaluable patients, the median daily opioid consumption was 360 mg oral morphine equivalents (OME) on the days prior to vitamin C and 390 mg when administered with vitamin C.
conclusionThis study failed to demonstrate any clinically significant benefit from vitamin C in conjunction with opioids in cancer-related pain and does not provide support for embarking on a larger randomised trial to determine efficacy.
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Registered trials
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