Nutraceuticals

AHCC

Lentinula edodes (shiitake mycelia)

A cultured shiitake-mycelia extract with two evidence stories at different strengths: a genuine human record for chemotherapy tolerability and immune competence, and a preclinical tumor-directed layer with no human tumor-response readout.

Apigenin

4′,5,7-Trihydroxyflavone (dietary flavone)

A dietary flavone with one of the broadest preclinical anti-cancer footprints on the site — anti-angiogenic, pro-apoptotic, pro-survival-signaling and anti-glycolytic across many animal models — set against a large oral-bioavailability gap, almost no human evidence, and a dose-dependent estrogen-receptor signal that can cut the other way at low concentrations.

Baicalein

Scutellaria baicalensis (root)

The most-studied flavone of Chinese skullcap — unusually broad preclinical anti-tumor evidence and real human pharmacokinetic data, set against a wide gap between the concentrations active in the lab and the free-compound levels oral dosing reaches, with no human cancer outcomes.

Baicalin

Scutellaria baicalensis (root)

The glucuronide of baicalein and its main circulating form — a broad, multi-target preclinical anti-tumor profile spanning apoptosis, ferroptosis and a distinctive cellular-senescence signature, governed by an unusual pharmacokinetic loop in which a poorly absorbed glucuronide is shuttled through its own aglycone, with no human cancer outcomes.

Berberine

Isoquinoline alkaloid

A rare compound with real human-trial evidence — studied for reducing colorectal adenoma recurrence, alongside a broad mechanistic case from cell and animal research.

Black Seed Oil

Nigella sativa (seed oil)

Thymoquinone appears to work two directions at once — pressuring tumour cells with oxidative stress while supporting normal tissue through the same redox pathway.

Boswellia

Boswellia serrata (resin)

AKBA (3-O-acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid) is the most intensively studied of Boswellia's boswellic acids and underlies many of the mechanisms described below, though whole-extract clinical effects can't be attributed to it alone.

CBD

Cannabis sativa L.

Two evidence tracks run in parallel: laboratory and animal research on tumour biology, and early clinical work on symptom and quality-of-life support during treatment.

CBG

Cannabis sativa L. (minor cannabinoid)

Ask what CBG does to a tumour cell, and the laboratory record answers in several distinct ways — ask what it does in a person, and it falls almost silent.

Curcumin

Curcuma longa (rhizome)

An unusually deep preclinical case across several cancer types, tempered by curcumin's own oral bioavailability problem — the reason enhanced formulations matter so much here.

Dandelion

Taraxacum spp. (mainly T. officinale)

A genus, not a single molecule: the anticancer record clusters on aqueous root extract and is entirely preclinical, so which dandelion — species, part, solvent — decides what a product can plausibly do.

DIM

3,3′-Diindolylmethane — cruciferous indole (from indole-3-carbinol)

The main active product of cruciferous vegetables, and unusual for having been through several controlled human trials — all negative on cancer efficacy — over a broad, exposure-limited preclinical case; its standout is a selective, tumor-sparing radioprotection that, unlike its cytotoxic mechanisms, works at reachable concentrations.

EGCG

Epigallocatechin gallate — green tea catechin

EGCG's case is unusually broad rather than unusually deep, and both halves are worth taking seriously.

Fisetin

3,3′,4′,7-Tetrahydroxyflavone (dietary flavonol)

A dietary flavonol and popular senolytic with broad preclinical anti-cancer activity across many tumor types — growth-signaling suppression paired with tumor-directed cell death — but no completed human efficacy trial (only a small biomarker study and pharmacokinetics) and a severe oral-exposure gap that laboratory potency far outruns.

Fucoidan

Sulfated fucose-rich polysaccharide (brown seaweed)

A family of brown-seaweed sulfated polysaccharides whose human evidence is supportive-care first — low-molecular-weight forms added to chemotherapy improved disease control and tolerability in small randomized trials — over a broad but exposure-limited preclinical case, with activity that depends heavily on species, molecular weight, and characterization.

FWGE

Fermented wheat germ extract (Avemar) — benzoquinone-standardized

A complex fermented extract whose most consistent thread is metabolic pressure on glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway, with adjunct human evidence in colorectal, melanoma, and pediatric settings — read at the product level rather than as a single molecule.

Genistein

4′,5,7-Trihydroxyisoflavone (soy isoflavone)

One of the major soy isoflavones and a broad preclinical anti-cancer actor — epigenetic, anti-angiogenic, anti-glycolytic and pro-apoptotic across many tumor models — but its human trials are null-to-adverse, it carries genuine in-vivo tumor-promotion signals, and as an estrogen-receptor agonist it can stimulate ER-positive tumors and blunt anti-estrogen therapy.

Honokiol

Magnolia officinalis (bark) — biphenolic lignan

A blood-brain-barrier-penetrant, multi-target signal suppressor with a broad preclinical anti-cancer case across many tumor types — throttled by near-zero oral bioavailability of the free molecule, and with no human efficacy trial, only early pharmacokinetics.

IP6

Inositol hexaphosphate / phytic acid — an inositol polyphosphate from cereal and legume bran

A dietary phytate with a broad preclinical anti-metastatic, anti-angiogenic and pro-apoptotic case — much of it IP6 alone — undercut by a genuine analytical question of whether oral IP6 reaches the blood intact at all; its only human evidence is supportive-care during chemotherapy, not tumour control.

Kaempferol

Dietary flavonol (Kaempferia galanga; Sophora japonica)

A very broadly studied dietary flavonol whose clearest whole-animal signal is anti-metastatic — reduced lung metastasis in two independent animal models — set against a severe absorption gap: an oral dose reaches roughly a thousandth of its cell-active concentrations, and no human cancer trial of any kind exists.

Luteolin

Chrysanthemum morifolium / Perilla frutescens

A broad preclinical evidence base spanning inflammatory, vascular, and growth-signalling pathways, with delivery-system research addressing its limited oral bioavailability.

Magnolol

Magnolia officinalis (bark) — biphenolic neolignan

Honokiol's sister neolignan from magnolia bark, with a broad preclinical anti-cancer case led by mitochondrial apoptosis across many tumor types — but no oncology trial of any kind, and effects gated by low, formulation-dependent oral bioavailability.

MCP

Low-molecular-weight citrus pectin — galectin-3 antagonist

A galectin-3-directed anti-metastatic mechanism, reproduced in oral animal models and carrying a rare human PSA-kinetics signal — set against a contested oral-absorption story and no controlled human tumor-response evidence.

Milk Thistle

Silybum marianum (seed extract)

A broad preclinical mechanism across tumor-signaling pathways whose oral tumor-tissue exposure sits far below the effective range; its strongest human evidence is in protecting healthy tissue during cancer treatment.

Omega-3 (EPA/DHA)

Long-chain marine omega-3 fatty acids (EPA/DHA)

Two marine fatty acids that build into cell membranes and turn pro-oxidant inside a tumor cell; randomized human trials show EPA reaching tumor tissue but rarely changing its proliferation, and the firmest human evidence is supportive-care during cancer treatment.

Piperlongumine

Amide alkaloid (Piper longum / long pepper)

A purified electrophilic alkaloid with an unusually broad preclinical anti-cancer signature built on one idea — raising oxidative stress more in cancer cells than in normal ones. It has no completed human trial and no human pharmacokinetics, so its effective concentrations remain a laboratory finding.

Quercetin

Flavonol (Sophora japonica, onions, apples)

A broad preclinical anti-cancer mechanism set throttled by a severe absorption gap — most circulating quercetin is an inactivated metabolite, so enhanced forms (EMIQ, phytosome) matter. Its firmest human evidence is host physiology and the dasatinib+quercetin senolytic combination, not direct tumor control.

Resveratrol

Stilbene polyphenol (grape / Japanese knotweed)

One of the broadest preclinical anti-cancer signatures of any dietary polyphenol, paired with one of the widest gaps between that signature and what an oral dose delivers — its human evidence is small, mechanistic, and concentrated in the gut, the one site an oral dose reaches in quantity.

Sulforaphane

Isothiocyanate (from broccoli glucoraphanin)

A broccoli isothiocyanate with a dual-context NRF2 mechanism and broad preclinical anti-cancer signaling; the human evidence is chemoprevention biomarkers and demonstrated prostate-tissue delivery, not tumor control, and how much reaches the body hinges on myrosinase converting its glucoraphanin precursor.

Taurine

2-Aminoethanesulfonic acid (sulfonic amino acid)

One of the most abundant amino acids in the body, and a genuine two-way street in cancer: it triggers tumor-cell death in some cancers yet fuels others, with tumors and cancer-fighting immune cells competing for the same supply. Its dependable human evidence is chemotherapy-symptom support, not tumor control.

Turkey Tail

Trametes versicolor (PSK / PSP)

Really three preparations under one name — a variable retail extract and the standardized medical-grade fractions PSK (Japan) and PSP (China). The strong human evidence is host support during cancer treatment; the tumor-directed mechanisms stay preclinical.

Ursolic Acid

Pentacyclic triterpenoid (rosemary, apple peel)

A common plant triterpenoid with one of the broadest preclinical anti-cancer mechanism maps in the literature, held back by poor oral absorption and human trials confined to an intravenous formulation. Its most distinctive human-facing signal is elsewhere — the preservation of skeletal muscle in models of cancer-related wasting.