The current webpage is designed to make additional research available concerning how certain foods and beverages or their major bioactive components can interfere with or reduce the beneficial treatment effects of doxorubicin. At the bottom of this webpage are links to studies relating to the foods under limit or avoid in Foods to eat and avoid during doxorubicin chemotherapy.
Because there are few available studies concerning some of the foods or compounds with adverse interactions with doxorubicin, we are including some studies concerning other cancers in addition to breast cancer.
Foods and beverages can reduce the beneficial cytotoxic effects of doxorubicin, worsen its harmful side effects, or otherwise interfere with treatment for a variety of reasons, among them:
- Potential cytochrome P450 interactions (açaí berries, grapefruit, limes, pomelos)
- Increased risk of cardiomyopathy ((1) alcohol, daily or heavy consumption; (2) heme iron-rich foods such as caviar, clams, oysters, mussels, and all types of liver; (3) trans fats such as partially-hydrogenated soybean oil )
- Risk of bacterial or viral infection (raw milk, shellfish)