{"entity":{"id":"curcumin-turmeric","kind":"technology","name":"Curcumin and turmeric","aka":[],"tldr":"Curcumin, the yellow pigment in turmeric, kills cancer cells in a dish and is one of the most studied supplements, but it is barely absorbed from the gut and no randomised trial has shown it treats cancer in people. Cooking with turmeric is fine; high-dose capsules can interact with chemotherapy and blood thinners.","summary":"Curcumin inhibits NF-kB, COX-2 and a long list of other targets in laboratory models, which has generated thousands of preclinical papers. Medicinal chemists classify it as a promiscuous, unstable, poorly bioavailable compound that produces false-positive signals in assays. Human trials are small: phase 1 and 2 studies in colorectal polyps, pancreatic cancer and myeloma show it is safe at gram doses with negligible plasma levels and no convincing efficacy, and a few small randomised trials suggest modest reduction of radiation dermatitis or oral mucositis, which need replication. Curcumin can inhibit CYP enzymes and platelet aggregation and in cell studies blunted the effect of cyclophosphamide and camptothecins, so oncologists generally advise avoiding high-dose supplements during chemotherapy. Turmeric as a food is harmless.","status":"phase-2","asOf":"2026-09-10","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curcumin","links":[{"label":"The essential medicinal chemistry of curcumin (J Med Chem 2017)","url":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.6b00975"},{"label":"NCI PDQ: Curcumin (curcuma, turmeric) and cancer","url":"https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/hp/curcumin-pdq"},{"label":"MSK About Herbs: Turmeric","url":"https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/turmeric"}],"tags":["complementary","supportive-care","evidence:insufficient"],"related":[],"cancers":[],"sections":["supportive-care","nutrition-lifestyle"],"technologies":["integrative-oncology","dietary-supplements-treatment-interactions"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":["unproven-diet-claims"],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":["b-misinformation"],"keyPapers":["paper-nelson-j-med-chem"],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"principle":"Pleiotropic inhibition of inflammatory and survival signalling in vitro; in vivo the compound is rapidly metabolised and reaches tissues at concentrations far below those used in cell experiments.","strengths":["Very safe as a food","Small trials for mucositis and dermatitis are hypothesis-generating"],"limitations":["Negligible oral bioavailability","No randomised evidence of anticancer effect in humans","Potential interactions with chemotherapy and anticoagulants"]},"route":"/technologies/curcumin-turmeric/","neighbours":{"section":[{"id":"nutrition-lifestyle","kind":"section","name":"Diet, Exercise & Lifestyle","route":"/fronts/nutrition-lifestyle/"},{"id":"supportive-care","kind":"section","name":"Supportive Care & Survivorship","route":"/fronts/supportive-care/"}],"technology":[{"id":"dietary-supplements-treatment-interactions","kind":"technology","name":"Dietary supplements during cancer treatment: interactions and harms","route":"/technologies/dietary-supplements-treatment-interactions/"},{"id":"integrative-oncology","kind":"technology","name":"Evidence-based integrative oncology","route":"/technologies/integrative-oncology/"}],"term":[{"id":"unproven-diet-claims","kind":"term","name":"Unproven diet claims (alkaline, juice, 'anti-cancer' diets)","route":"/terms/unproven-diet-claims/"}],"bottleneck":[{"id":"b-misinformation","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Misinformation and unproven therapies","route":"/bottlenecks/b-misinformation/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-nelson-j-med-chem","kind":"paper","name":"The Essential Medicinal Chemistry of Curcumin","route":"/key-papers/paper-nelson-j-med-chem/"}]}}