Unintended Consequence of High-Dose Vitamin C Therapy for an Oncology Patient: Evaluation of Ascorbic Acid Interference With Three Hospital-Use Glucose Meters

Abstract

The use of high-dose vitamin C in cancer care has offered promising results for some patients. However, the intravenous (IV) doses used for these patients can reach concentrations that interfere with some strip-based glucose meters. We characterized the impact of vitamin C interference, from standard to the very high doses used for some cancer protocols, using three different hospital-use glucose meters. For two of the three devices tested, increasing concentrations of ascorbic acid caused false elevations in the glucose measurements. The third glucose meter did not provide inaccurate results, regardless of the vitamin C concentration present. Rather, above a certain threshold, the device generated error messages and no results could be obtained.