Vitamin A and its derivatives (betacarotene, retinol) represent one class of anticarcinogenic phytochemicals. Vitamin A has been demonstrated to reduce cancerous tumors in animals and may reduce the risk of lung cancer in humans. In a study published in March 1992 by the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers reported that high doses of a derivative of vitamin A, marketed as the acne drug Accutane, prevent lung, throat, and mouth cancers in people who are at high risk of developing them.
Researchers at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center of the University of Texas in Houston also successfully treated patients with head and neck cancer using Accutane. Because these patients' tissues already were primed to become cancerous, they were very likely to grow new, separate cancers that were more life-threatening than the first. Accutane prevented new cancers from forming in most patients in the study for nearly three years. However, the drug did not prevent the recurrence of the original tumors, as reported by Frank Murray in Today's Living, October 1992.
Accutane has serious side effects when administered in high doses, but researchers reported that if lower doses also work, the stage will be set for giving Accutane to people who smoke or drink heavily and are therefore at relatively high risk for head or neck cancers. The findings strongly indicated that other cancers might also be preventable.
Vitamin A also appears to lower the risk of breast cancer, according to Alternative Medicine: What Works. In a study of the diets of 89,494 nurses, those who ingested the most vitamin A had 16% less risk of breast cancer. When vitamin A supplements were given to those with the least of it in their diets, their risk also went down. In another analysis of the same data, the nurses with the most vitamin A in their diets had 39% fewer cataracts than those who had the least.
Benefits of Vitamin A
- Builds resistance to infections, especially of the respiratory tract and mucous membranes.
- Counteracts night blindness and weak eyesight.
- Promotes healthy skin.
- Helps prevent lung, throat, and mouth cancers in people who are high risk of developing them.
- Helps prevent head and neck cancer.
- Strengthens pregnancy (when taken in conjunction with iron) by combatting a deficiency of red blood cells in anemic women.
