Can curcumin slow cancer growth?

Answer From Karthik Giridhar, M.D.

At this time, there isn't enough evidence to recommend curcumin for preventing or treating cancer, but research is ongoing.

Curcumin is a substance found in the spice turmeric. Curcumin has long been used in Asian medicine to treat a variety of illnesses. Now some research suggests that curcumin may help prevent or treat cancer.

Curcumin is thought to have antioxidant properties, which means it may decrease swelling and inflammation. It's being explored as a cancer treatment in part because inflammation appears to play a role in cancer.

Laboratory and animal research suggests that curcumin may prevent cancer, slow the spread of cancer, make chemotherapy more effective and protect healthy cells from damage by radiation therapy.

Studies of curcumin in people are still in the early stages. Clinical trials are underway to investigate curcumin as a way to prevent cancer in people with precancerous conditions, as a cancer treatment, and as a remedy for signs and symptoms caused by cancer treatments.

Research is ongoing, and there isn't enough evidence to recommend curcumin at this time. As always, talk with your doctor before using any herbal supplement, including curcumin. It's known to interfere with certain medications, including some chemotherapy drugs.

With

Karthik Giridhar, M.D.

From Mayo Clinic to your inbox

Sign up for free and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips, current health topics, and expertise on managing health. Click here for an email preview.

To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail.

Jan. 05, 2024 See more Expert Answers

See also

  1. Health foods
  2. Adjuvant therapy for cancer
  3. Alternative cancer treatments: 11 options to consider
  4. Atypical cells: Are they cancer?
  5. Biological therapy for cancer
  6. Biopsy procedures
  7. Blood Basics
  8. Bone marrow transplant
  9. Bone scan
  10. Cancer
  11. Cancer
  12. Cancer blood tests
  13. Myths about cancer causes
  14. Infographic: Cancer Clinical Trials Offer Many Benefits
  15. Cancer diagnosis: 11 tips for coping
  16. Cancer-related fatigue
  17. Cancer pain: Relief is possible
  18. Cancer-prevention strategies
  19. Cancer risk: What the numbers mean
  20. Cancer surgery
  21. Cancer survival rate
  22. Cancer survivors: Care for your body after treatment
  23. Cancer survivors: Late effects of cancer treatment
  24. Cancer survivors: Managing your emotions after cancer treatment
  25. Cancer survivorship program
  26. Cancer treatment
  27. Cancer treatment myths
  28. Cancer-related fatigue
  29. Cancer-related pain
  30. Cancer-related weakness
  31. Chemo targets
  32. Chemoembolization
  33. Chemotherapy
  34. Chemotherapy and hair loss: What to expect during treatment
  35. Chemotherapy and sex: Is sexual activity OK during treatment?
  36. Chemotherapy nausea and vomiting: Prevention is best defense
  37. Chemotherapy side effects: A cause of heart disease?
  38. Complete blood count (CBC)
  39. Cough
  40. CT scan
  41. Cancer-related diarrhea
  42. Eating during cancer treatment: Tips to make food tastier
  43. Fatigue
  44. Fertility preservation
  45. Heart cancer: Is there such a thing?
  46. High-dose vitamin C: Can it kill cancer cells?
  47. Honey: An effective cough remedy?
  48. Hyperthermic isolated limb perfusion
  49. Infographic: CAR-T Cell Therapy
  50. Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)
  51. Intrathecal chemotherapy
  52. Isolated limb infusion
  53. Joint pain
  54. Low blood counts
  55. Magic mouthwash
  56. Medical marijuana
  57. Microwave ablation for cancer
  58. Mindfulness exercises
  59. Minimally invasive cancer surgery
  60. Monoclonal antibody drugs
  61. Mort Crim and Cancer
  62. Mouth sores caused by cancer treatment: How to cope
  63. MRI
  64. Muscle pain
  65. Needle biopsy
  66. Night sweats
  67. No appetite? How to get nutrition during cancer treatment
  68. Palliative care
  69. PALS (Pets Are Loving Support)
  70. Pelvic exenteration
  71. PET/MRI scan
  72. Precision medicine for cancer
  73. Radiation therapy
  74. Regional perfusion therapy
  75. Seeing inside the heart with MRI
  76. Self-Image During Cancer
  77. Sentinel lymph node mapping
  78. Sisters' Bone Marrow Transplant
  79. Sleep tips
  80. Small cell, large cell cancer: What this means
  81. Stem Cells 101
  82. Stem cells: What they are and what they do
  83. Surgical biopsy
  84. Tumor vs. cyst: What's the difference?
  85. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy (TIL therapy)
  86. TVEC (Talimogene laherparepvec) injection
  87. Ultrasound
  88. Unexplained weight loss
  89. Stem cell transplant
  90. How cancer spreads
  91. MRI
  92. PICC line placement
  93. When cancer returns: How to cope with cancer recurrence
  94. Wide local skin excision
  95. X-ray