High‐Frequency Pharmacologic Ascorbate Therapy for Cancer: A Dual‐Pulse Oxidative Stress Strategy (DP‐HDIVC) Targeting Tumor Redox Vulnerability

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Abstract

High-dose intravenous vitamin C (HDIVC) has been investigated for decades as a potential anticancer therapy based on its ability to achieve pharmacologic plasma concentrations that exert pro-oxidative cytotoxic effects selectively in cancer cells. While prior clinical and translational studies have focused primarily on dose escalation and safety, infusion frequency has remained underexplored as a determinant of anticancer efficacy. Accumulating mechanistic evidence indicates that cancer cell killing by pharmacologic ascorbate depends not only on peak plasma concentration (Cₘₐₓ), but also on the frequency of suprathreshold oxidative stress exposure and the tumor’s limited capacity for redox recovery.Here, we propose a high-frequency, dual-pulse HDIVC strategy, consisting of once- or twice-daily pharmacologic infusions designed to repeatedly exceed cytotoxic plasma thresholds, thereby reducing tumor redox recovery time and amplifying cumulative oxidative injury. This framework explicitly distinguishes metabolic redox suppression dosing from high-peak cytotoxic pulse dosing, imposes strict temporal separation from antioxidant/reductive therapies, and is optimized for implementation in patients with central venous access under appropriate clinical monitoring. We argue that frequency-intensified pharmacologic ascorbate exposure represents a rational next step for maximizing cancer cell kill, meriting formal clinical evaluation.This manuscript presents a mechanistic and conceptual framework intended to guide protocol design and stimulate formal clinical evaluation, rather than to report completed clinical outcomes.

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europepmc
last seen: 2026-05-20T01:45:00.602351+00:00