Antioxidant Supplements in Cancer Treatment in Pets
Supplements Containing Antioxidants Have Benefits and Drawbacks
May 2, 2009
Antioxidant supplements are one of the most widely used nutritional supplements used in treating pets with various forms of cancer. While antioxidant supplements have a number of benefits in treating cancer for pets, these supplements may also have some important drawbacks. The wise pet owner should be aware of both the pros and cons of using antioxidant nutritional supplements.
What are Antioxidant Nutritional Supplements?
Antioxidant nutritional supplements are generally given to pets with cancer in order to:
- aid in the treatment of cancer
- enhance the natural immune responses of the pet
- decrease the toxicity of the cancer treatment
Antioxidant supplements perform these functions by decreasing oxidative stress, a phenomenon which causes damage to cells leading to an undesirable inflammatory response in the pet.
What Antioxidants are Used as Nutritional Supplements in Cancer?
Several antioxidants are currently being used frequently as nutritional supplements for pets with cancer. These include:
- glutathione peroxidase
- superoxide dismutase
- vitamin A
- vitamin C
- vitamin E
- transferrin
What are the Benefits Seen with Antioxidant Nutritional Supplements?
Oxidative stress is associated with increases in morbidity and mortality in pets suffering from several forms of cancer, including mammary tumors and lymphomas. Antioxidants work to decrease oxidative stress, thereby potentially reducing the morbidity and mortality which is associated with the cancers.
The use of antioxidant nutritional supplements is also believed to potentially slow the progress of some cancers. In addition, it is also believed that antioxidant nutritional supplements may aid in stopping or at least slowing the process of metastasis. Metastasis is the spread of a cancer from one area of the pet's body to another area of the body.
Adverse effects caused by radiation therapy or chemotherapy may also be reduced by using antioxidant nutritional supplements. These adverse effects may involve the gastrointestinal tract, the kidneys and/or the heart.
While these benefits are still theoretical in nature and research is ongoing, many pets with cancer do seem to respond to antioxidant nutritional support in a positive way.
Disadvantages of Antioxidant Nutritional Supplements in Pets with Cancer
While there seem to be many potential benefits to using antioxidant nutritional supplements in pets with cancer, there are also a few detrimental effects to using antioxidant nutritional supplements as well.
The effectiveness of radiation therapy is dependent on some degree of oxidative stress occurring. This is true with many of the chemotherapy agents commonly used in treating cancer in pets as well. Antioxidant nutritional supplements work to decrease oxidative stress which may lead to decreased efficacy of radiation and chemotherapy treatments in treating pets with cancer.
Another concern with antioxidant nutritional supplements is that as nutritional dietary supplements, there is very little oversight over the manufacture and distribution of these products. There have been concerns dealing with safety, efficacy and quality control of these products as well as concerns about proper dosage and bioavailability (how much of a product is actually present in a form that the animal is able to metabolize and benefit from).
Antioxidant nutritional supplements do have a place in treating certain forms of cancer in pets, but a careful risk/benefit analysis should be made before starting an antioxidant nutritional supplement for an individual pet.
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