Archived Comments for:
Control of prostate cancer associated with withdrawal of a supplement containing folic acid, L-methyltetrahydrofolate and vitamin B12: a case report
This is an intriguing case report, which if relevant to more men with prostate cancer could have a major impact on both the survival of patients with androgen-independent disease, and their quality of life. In Figure 1, the implication is that the patient was taking 8mg (8000 micrograms) of folate/folic acid per day, or as described within the case presentation, a total of 800 micrograms of folate/folic acid (0.8mg). This is important as most multivitamins contain 400 micrograms of folic acid, and adding a B-complex vitamin would easily get a patient to 800 micrograms, but not 8mg per day. Furthermore, it is not cited in the manuscript, but another recent paper has shown increased prostate cancer cell proliferation in patients with high serum folates, supporting this work. For more info see http://tinyurl.com/folate-cancer.
Journal of Medical Case Reports
8mg or 800 microgram dose of folate?
21 October 2011
This is an intriguing case report, which if relevant to more men with prostate cancer could have a major impact on both the survival of patients with androgen-independent disease, and their quality of life. In Figure 1, the implication is that the patient was taking 8mg (8000 micrograms) of folate/folic acid per day, or as described within the case presentation, a total of 800 micrograms of folate/folic acid (0.8mg). This is important as most multivitamins contain 400 micrograms of folic acid, and adding a B-complex vitamin would easily get a patient to 800 micrograms, but not 8mg per day. Furthermore, it is not cited in the manuscript, but another recent paper has shown increased prostate cancer cell proliferation in patients with high serum folates, supporting this work. For more info see http://tinyurl.com/folate-cancer.
Competing interests
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