Are antioxidants good or bad?

　　Reminiscent of "antioxidants" is often linked to health and vitality. It is also widely regarded as an anti-cancer and anti-aging substance that exists in many fruits, vegetables and nutritional supplements.

　　This research result was published in "Science Translational Medicine" on October 7, and was completed by the research team of the Salg Institute of Gothenburg University in Sweden.

　　However, this is not the first academic paper about antioxidants accelerating the rate of cancer metastasis. In January 2014, researchers at the Salg Institute confirmed that antioxidants aggravated the development of lung cancer in rats. Subsequently, the same experiment was conducted on human lung cancer cells, and a consistent conclusion was drawn: antioxidants increase the rate of deterioration of lung cancer.

　　Among all cancers, skin cancer is by far the most common type. Among them, although melanoma occupies only 2% of the proportion, its lethal rate is very high.

　　Antioxidants are regarded as "healthy" substances because they can interact with and neutralize free radicals, a highly active chemical that damages cells, and ultimately prevent the damage of free radicals to cells. Since last year's lung cancer study discovered the drawbacks of antioxidants, the medical community has begun to re-examine this chemical substance.

　　Cancer patients should avoid antioxidant supplements

　　The research team led by Professor Martin Berg? noticed that melanoma cells are particularly sensitive to free radicals, and the cells are easily exposed to antioxidants through food or skin care products. Some skin lotions and sunscreens contain beta-carotene or vitamin E, both of which may affect the spread of malignant melanoma cells in the same way as nutritional supplements rich in antioxidants.

　　Researchers collected and cultivated cells from patients with malignant melanoma and found that although antioxidants protect normal cells from free radical attack, they also protect tumor cells. Moreover, they found that antioxidants tripled the rate of melanoma cell metastasis.