Is EGCG Green Tea Safe with Cyclophosphamide?
Free · No account · based on published sources including NIH ODS, FDA drug labels, and peer-reviewed literature
Avoid green tea extract supplements during cyclophosphamide-based chemotherapy. Dietary green tea in moderate amounts should still be discussed with your oncology team as timing relative to infusion matters.
Why this interaction occurs
Cyclophosphamide exerts cytotoxic activity partly through reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. EGCG's potent antioxidant and free radical scavenging activity may neutralize these ROS, reducing chemotherapeutic cell kill. Animal models demonstrate attenuated cyclophosphamide efficacy with concurrent EGCG.
Evidence
Evidence level: limited.
Reported safety data
The FDA’s adverse event reporting system (FAERS) has received 187,497 reports mentioning Cyclophosphamide. This reflects reported cases involving the medication in general — not confirmed causation, and not specific to the Cyclophosphamide + supplement combination on this page.
FAERS reports are voluntary and cannot prove that a drug caused an event. Do not use report counts to assess the safety of this specific drug-supplement pair.
Frequently asked questions
Related interactions
All EGCG Green Tea interactions → · All Cyclophosphamide interactions →
Already checked this one — check your whole list
Educational only — not medical advice.
Always confirm with your doctor or pharmacist.