EPA improves tumor kill in hyperthermia and chemotherapy by altering cancer cell membranes for increased vulnerability. EPA increases the ability of adriamycin to kill cultured leukemia cells. EPA and GLA were selectively toxic to human tumor cell lines while also enhancing the cytotoxic effects of chemotherapy. There is a synergistic benefit of using vitamin A with carotenoids in patients who are being treated with chemo, radiation and surgery for common malignancies. Beta-carotene and vitamin A together provided a significant improvement in outcome in animals treated with radiation for induced cancers.
Vitamin E protects the body against the potentially damaging effects of iron and fish oil.
Vitamin E deficiency, which is common in cancer patients, will accentuate the cardiotoxic effects of adriamycin. The worse the vitamin E deficiency in animals, the greater the heart damage from adriamycin. Vitamin E supplements prevented the glucose-raising effects of a chemo drug, doxorubicin while improving the tumor kill rate of doxorubicin. Niacin supplements in animals were able to reduce the cardiotoxicity of adriamycin while not interfering with its tumor killing capacity. Niacin seems to make radiation therapy more effective at killing hypoxic cancer cells.