Quercetin is a Multi-Faceted Cancer Fighter

Lab, animal, and clinical studies suggest quercetin can help fight cancer.

Quercetin is a flavonol type of flavonoid, one of the most prevalent polyphenols in the vegetables and fruits we eat, including the beverages derived from them (like wine and juices). In addition to the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immune-boosting benefits studies have shown quercetin offers, research suggests it may act to prevent the development of new cancer and therapeutically arrest and even regress existing cancer growth.2

How Does Quercetin Work Against Cancer?

Many lab, animal, and human studies of quercetin indicate that it is an amazing substance that works in a variety of ways depending on the type of cancer and the potentially cancer-causing situations it detects in the body, generally without causing harmful side effects. Scientists not only seek to measure how much it inhibits cancer growth or how many cancer cells it destroys, but also to understand exactly how it does so. By carefully designing research studies that measure certain outcomes after exposure to quercetin—such as the decrease in a specific type of antioxidant protein that a particular cancer cell produces which protects it from chemotherapy-induced death—researchers can outline the mechanisms by which it works in certain conditions. From this they can extrapolate that quercetin may act in similar ways on other types of cancer cells (or other diseases altogether) that exhibit the same behavior.42

These complex mechanisms, which in broad terms function by promoting the production or inhibition of certain proteins, can be grouped into general categories:

Some of the specific cancers that studies show may benefit from quercetin include:

Disclaimer: This website is not intended to replace professional consultation, diagnosis, or treatment by a licensed physician. If you require any medical related advice, contact your physician promptly. Information presented on this website is exclusively of a general reference nature. Do not disregard medical advice or delay treatment as a result of accessing information at this site.
Also referred to as enzymes, oxidative and antioxidant enzymes, cytokines, mitochondrion-related
apoptotic mediators, caspases, and other biochemical terms depending on their specific function.
Blood vessel walls.