Boosting vitamin C levels may help curb leukemia risk 

Boosting daily requirement of vitamin C may be helpful in curbing the development of leukemia, a deadly blood cancer, a study has found.
Previous studies have shown that people with lower levels of ascorbate (vitamin C) are at an increased cancer risk but the reasons were not fully understood.

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According to a study:

• The new study showed that stem cells soak up unusually high levels of vitamin C.
• In addition,which then regulates the cell function and suppresses the development of leukemia.
• Stem cells use ascorbate to regulate the abundance of certain chemical modifications on DNA, which are part of the epigenome.
• The epigenome is a set of mechanisms inside a cell that regulates which genes turn on and turn off.
• So when stem cells don’t receive enough vitamin C, the epigenome can become damaged in a way that increases stem cell function.
• But also increases the risk of leukemia.

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Tet2:

• This increased risk is partly tied to how ascorbate affects an enzyme known as Tet2.
• Mutations that inactivate Tet2 are an early step in the formation of leukemia.
• Ascorbate depletion can limit Tet2 function in tissues in a way that increases the risk of leukemia, the researchers explained.
• Importantly, the findings have implications for older patients with a common precancerous condition known as clonal hematopoiesis.
• It puts patients at a higher risk of developing leukemia and other diseases.

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According to experts:

• One of the most common mutations in patients with clonal hematopoiesis is a loss of one copy of Tet2.
• Our results suggest patients with clonal hematopoiesis and a Tet2 mutation.
• In addition, should be particularly careful to get 100 per cent of their daily Vitamin C requirement.
• Because these patients only have one good copy of Tet2 left,
• They need to maximise the residual Tet2 tumour-suppressor activity to protect themselves from cancer.