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Clinical Implications of Basic Research

The Promise and Perils of Antioxidants for Cancer Patients

List of authors.
  • Navdeep S. Chandel, Ph.D.,
  • and David A. Tuveson, M.D., Ph.D.

It has been proposed that reactive oxygen species (ROS) cause mutations, and thus cancer, and that antioxidants counter this effect, but studies suggest that antioxidants do not prevent cancer and may accelerate it. These findings may be due to the cellular location of ROS targeted by antioxidants.

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Funding and Disclosures

Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org.

Author Affiliations

From the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago (N.S.C.); and the Lustgarten Foundation Laboratory at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY (D.A.T.).

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