Researchers tested five natural compounds—including curcumin and berberine—against cancer cells and healthy muscle cells. Each compound interfered with cancer cells' energy production and pushed many of the cells into a non-dividing state, according to the ScienceDaily report.
Curcumin stood out as the most potent of the five, showing the strongest overall disruption of cancer cell activity. The study did not report that any compound harmed healthy muscle cells, though the source does not provide detailed measurements of that effect.
Because this is a single source, there are no conflicting findings to compare. The results point to curcumin as a promising candidate for further research, but the report does not specify doses, delivery methods, or whether these effects would hold in living organisms.