Curcumin added to chemotherapy increased tumor response in a breast cancer trial
Women receiving the tested formulation had higher objective response rates, while the abstract provides limited detail about survival and safety.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Adding the tested curcumin formulation to chemotherapy produced higher objective tumor response rates in this trial of advanced breast cancer. The abstract also reports better progression-free survival and treatment tolerance, without numerical estimates. These findings do not establish longer overall survival or benefits for other cancers or curcumin products.
Abstract-only reporting leaves blinding, chemotherapy regimens and detailed adverse-event counts unspecified. Missing progression-free survival estimates also prevent assessment of the size and precision of that reported benefit.
What researchers found
Objective tumor response rate
Curcumin plus chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone, 12 weeks after treatment; response assessed using RECIST criteria.
Response and survival differ
The numerical finding concerns objective tumor response assessed with standardized RECIST criteria. Progression-free survival was reported separately as better, without an estimate. The abstract gives no overall-survival result, leaving that outcome unresolved.
A particular formulation and population
Researchers tested an oral curcumin formulation containing piperine alongside chemotherapy in women with advanced breast cancer. This comparison cannot establish effects of curcumin alone, different formulations or its use in other cancers.
The original publication
Efficacy and Safety of Curcumin as an Adjuvant to Standard Chemotherapy in Advanced and Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients: A Randomized Controlled Study.
Goyal S, Beniwal SK, Agarwal P et al.
Phytother Res · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40898993
- Record checked
AI-assisted research and writing. This explains one selected publication; it is not a complete review of everything known. Our approach.
One more question, understood.
Keep track of the research you’ve explored.