Folate acid supplementation, might effectively reduce the risk of progression of cancer, according to a new study published in the latest issue of the journal of the American Cancer Society.
The study found that 31 out of 43 patients with the precancerous laryngeal lesion called leucoplakia demonstrated 50 percent or greater reduction in the lesion size after six months of taking folate supplements.
Researchers further stated that folate insufficiency is a risk factor for cancer progression.
Folate deficiency is the most common vitamin deficiency in the United States. Folate is a naturally occurring B vitamin found abundantly in fresh vegetables and fruits. Folic acid is its more stable synthetic form found in dietary supplements and fortified foods.
Animal and human studies have increasingly demonstrated associations between folate deficiency, and a variety of cancers, and the results have shown that folate supplementation may protect against some cancers. This body of evidence suggests folate to be an effective chemopreventive drug.
The investigators studied 43 patients with untreated laryngeal leucoplakia and treated them with folic acid and evaluated the progression of leucoplakia every 30 days for six months.
After six months of treatment, it was quite evident that folate supplementation helped the cancer patients tremendously in reducing the size of their lesions.
Folate acid has proved to be the most useful chemopreventive drug, as it has minimum level of toxicity.
The researchers concluded that folate supplementation, alone or in combination with other chemopreventive drugs, could effectively reduce the risk of progression of cancer.