A 30 percent vitamin C solution dissolved in DMSO cleared 86 percent of basal cell skin cancer lesions within eight weeks in a clinical trial. In a randomized study published in Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, researchers tested a topical mix of high-concentration ascorbic acid and dimethyl sulfoxide, a solvent that helps substances penetrate deeply into the skin.
Applied twice daily for eight weeks, the combination produced complete clearance in 13 of 15 lesions (86.7 percent) among patients with low-risk basal cell carcinoma. This rate exceeded that of the standard topical treatment imiquimod, which cleared 8 of 14 lesions (57.1 percent). The vitamin C–DMSO formulation also caused fewer side effects and avoided the lasting skin hypopigmentation sometimes seen with conventional topical therapies.
Because basal cell carcinoma is the most common form of skin cancer worldwide, these early results suggest a possible low-cost, non-invasive option. Larger trials are still required before the approach can be adopted as standard care.
[Burke, B., & Bailie, J.-E. (2022). Randomized trial of topical ascorbic acid in DMSO versus imiquimod for the treatment of basal cell carcinoma. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, 148, 112710. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2022.112710]