ReviewTemperature (Austin, Tex.)2023
Capsaicin and cancer: Guilty as charged or innocent until proven guilty?
Review in Temperature (Austin, Tex.), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Exploring the effect of capsaicin on gene expression and chemotherapy sensitization in gastric cancer cells.European journal of medical research · 2025Article
- A 'Spicy' Mechanotransduction Switch: Capsaicin-Activated TRPV1 Receptor Modulates Osteosarcoma Cell Behavior and Drug Sensitivity.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Capsaicin Inhibits Ferroptosis through Facilitating SYVN1-Mediated Ubiquitination and Degradation of ACSL4.Journal of agricultural and food chemistry · 2025Article
- Capsaicin as a Microbiome Modulator: Metabolic Interactions and Implications for Host Health.Metabolites · 2025Review
- Nanodelivery Approaches of Phytoactives for Skin Cancers: Current and Future Perspectives.Current pharmaceutical biotechnology · 2025Review
- Varietal influence on bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity in chilies during development stages.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Gastric Carcinogenesis and Potential Role of the Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) Receptor: An Observational Histopathological Study.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Observational
- Overcoming the Challenges of Phytochemicals in Triple Negative Breast Cancer Therapy: The Path Forward.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- From capsaicin to TRPV1: The "hot" legacy of János Szolcsányi.Temperature (Austin, Tex.) · 2023Article
- Biomedical and Antioxidant Potentialities in Chilli: Perspectives and Way Forward.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Antioxidant, Anti-Obesity, Nutritional and Other Beneficial Effects of Different Chili Pepper: A Review.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
With an estimated 2 billion chili pepper connoisseurs worldwide, the human exposure to capsaicin is enormous. Therefore, the question whether nutritional capsaicin is a cancer causing or cancer preventive agent is of utmost importance. The gamut of human epidemiology studies suggests that capsaicin in modest, "restaurant-like" doses is not only safe to eat, but it may even provide health benefits, such as lower cancer-related death rate. Very "hot" food is, however, probably better avoided. Importantly, no increased cancer risk was reported in patients following topical (skin or intravesical) capsaicin therapy. Aberrant capsaicin receptor TRPV1 expression was noted in various cancers with potential implications for cancer therapy, diagnosis and prognostication. Indeed, capsaicin can kill cancer cells by a combination of on- and off-target mechanisms, though it remains unclear if this can be exploited for therapeutic purposes. The literature on capsaicin and cancer is vast and controversial. This review aims to find answers to questions that are relevant for our daily life and medical practice.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.