Why is oxygenation good and prevents cancer but oxidation bad and causes cancer (we have to use antioxidants)?

Question

From what I read, cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

How is this oxygenation different from oxidation, which I also remember reading is bad for us and causes us to get more and more cancer cells leading to cancer?

Answer 1

Free radicals are highly reactive in the body, oxidizing (removing electrons from) other atoms. Free radicals have a lone-pair of electrons in their outermost shell and bounce around the body stealing electrons from what otherwise would be healthy cells. This promotes the spread of cancer.

Antioxidants quench free radicals by picking up these unpaired electrons. Antioxidants are not produced by the body and must be consumed in our diet ie Vitamin C & E.

Oxygenation has nothing to do with this process. Oxygenation simple means creating good perfusion throughout the body. A good way to remember Redox Reactions is LEO GER

Lose Electrons Oxidized
Gain Electrons Reduced

Answer 2

I would like to clarify one point about cancer cells not surviving in an oxygenated environment. In fact cancer cells require lots of energy and they get this energy aerobically. This means a cancerous tumor requires a good blood supply. This fact is one of the forefronts of cancer research and that is how to limit the growth of blood vessels to tumors. If you could do that and deprive the tumor of oxygen from the blood supply that will kill off tumors.

Answer 3

oxidation is the same basic chemical process as rusting. when that's happening inside your cells, it ain't good

basically what happens is that free radicals (which are cleaned up by antioxidants) oxidise bits of the cells, essentially pulling them apart. in particular, problems occur when free radicals get to the DNA - causing mutations leading to cancer and the like