Drug & supplement interaction

African Wild Potato + Topotecan

Topotecan brand name: Hycamtin.

No Known Interaction

Medically reviewed by Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS · Updated July 2026 · Pair last verified Sep 13, 2026

The bottom line No known interaction

We found no known interaction between African Wild Potato and Topotecan in our sources. Absence of a documented interaction is not the same as proven safety, and does not guarantee one does not exist. Do not start, stop, or change a medication or supplement based on this page; confirm with your pharmacist or doctor first. Additionally, although there is no interaction, the two are separately associated with some of the same side effects, which would make a new symptom harder to attribute to one or the other.

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Interaction report

African Wild Potato and Topotecan

We checked these two against our interaction database. Here is what we found.

No Known Interaction Found

We did not find a documented interaction between Topotecan and African Wild Potato in our sources. This does not guarantee that the combination is completely free of risk — there is often limited research on supplements and herbal products, especially around drug interactions.

If you decide to take both, the practical routine is simple: add one new thing at a time and note the date you started it. If the combination is going to disagree with you, it usually shows in the first days to a couple of weeks — and a start date turns “I’ve been feeling off” into something a pharmacist can actually work with. Do not stop a prescribed medicine on your own.

Always talk with your pharmacist or doctor before making changes to your medications or supplements, particularly if you take several medications or have an ongoing health condition.

African Wild Potato safety at a glance

African Wild Potat... overall Use caution Limited human safety data and unclear effective doses mean it should be used cautiously.

Pregnancy Avoid Not enough safety information, so it is best avoided during pregnancy.

Breastfeeding Avoid No reliable safety data, so avoid while breastfeeding.

Safety guidance is general; always confirm with your pharmacist or doctor for your situation.

Still wondering about combining Topotecan and African Wild Potato? Ask Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS directly ›

How we checked

Why No Interaction Is Listed for Topotecan

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes, not just single drug names. Topotecan is filed under 3 classifications — topoisomerase i inhibitors, topoisomerase ii inhibitors, oral drugs. African Wild Potato has documented interactions with 9 drug classes — the most serious being antidiabetes drugs (moderate), cytochrome p450 1a2 (cyp1a2) substrates (moderate) and cytochrome p450 2b6 (cyp2b6) substrates (moderate) — and none of Topotecan’s classifications are among them.

Classification data comes from our licensed Natural Medicines dataset. A medication can belong to classes beyond those recorded there, so this describes how the check was run — it is not a safety guarantee.

Keep it in perspective

African Wild Potato Does Interact With Other Medications

African Wild Potato has 1,005 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Topotecan isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Moderate 1,005 No known interaction 1,825 (incl. Topotecan)

Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against African Wild Potato

Covers the 2,830 medications we’ve checked against African Wild Potato. Pick one to open its full report.

What to actually watch for

No Interaction Found — But Data Suggests African Wild Potato and Topotecan May Share Several of the Same Side Effects

This is not an interaction. Neither one changes how your body handles the other, and nothing here says they react together. What our sources do show is that each has separately been linked to the effects below — so taking both can make those effects more likely to turn up, and harder to pin on one or the other if they do.

Constipation / Diarrhea / Vomiting / Nausea Additional detail
African Wild Potato
“There is limited information available about the adverse effects of African wild potato. Some studies have evaluated constituents isolated from African wild potato, including beta-sitosterol and hypoxoside. Side effects reported with beta-sitosterol include nausea, indigestion, gas, diarrhea, constipation, erectile dysfunction, and loss of libido.”

African Wild Potato · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in anxiety.
4 sources cited

5327. Berges RR, Windeler J, Trampisch HJ, et al. Randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial of beta-sitosterol in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. Beta-sitosterol Study Group. Lancet 1995;345:1529-32.

5328. Klippel KF, Hiltl DM, Schipp B. A multicentric, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial of beta-sitosterol (phytosterol) for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Br J Urol 1997;80:427-32.

5942. Berges RR, Windeler J, Trampisch HJ, et al. Randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial of beta-sitosterol in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. Lancet 1995;345:1529-32.

13584. Smit BJ, Albrecht CF, Liebenberg RW, et al A phase I trial of hypoxoside as an oral prodrug for cancer therapy--absence of toxicity. S Afr Med J 1995;85:865-70.
“Orally, specific beta-sitosterol extracts from African wild potato (Azuprostat, Harzol) can cause nausea, indigestion, gas, diarrhea, or constipation. Hypoxoside, an African wild potato constituent, has been reported to cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea in one small, uncontrolled study.”

African Wild Potato · Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, reported in constipation.
3 sources cited

5327. Berges RR, Windeler J, Trampisch HJ, et al. Randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial of beta-sitosterol in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. Beta-sitosterol Study Group. Lancet 1995;345:1529-32.

5328. Klippel KF, Hiltl DM, Schipp B. A multicentric, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial of beta-sitosterol (phytosterol) for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Br J Urol 1997;80:427-32.

13584. Smit BJ, Albrecht CF, Liebenberg RW, et al A phase I trial of hypoxoside as an oral prodrug for cancer therapy--absence of toxicity. S Afr Med J 1995;85:865-70.
Topotecan

Listed in the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of the FDA label for Topotecan. Read the label on DailyMed ›

Reported for African Wild Potato but not commonly for Topotecan: erection problems, a change in sex drive, stomach upset and anxiety or restlessness.

Effects for Topotecan come from the ADVERSE REACTIONS section of its FDA label; effects for African Wild Potato come from the Natural Medicines adverse-effect record, quoted above. Wording is matched across sources by our own clinical vocabulary, so treat this as a prompt to pay attention, not a diagnosis.

Overlapping uses

What Topotecan Is Prescribed For, and What African Wild Potato Has Been Studied For

These two come up together because they touch the same health topic — not because they do the same job. Topotecan is a prescription medicine with approved uses on its FDA label. African Wild Potato is a supplement: what follows is what researchers have looked at it for, and how strong that evidence is.

Topotecan is prescribed for: Topotecan treats several serious cancers. The intravenous (IV) forms — sold under the brand names Hycamtin, Topotecan, and Topotecan Hydrochloride — are used for metastatic ovarian cancer that has progressed after prior chemotherapy, for small cell lung cancer (SCLC) that came back at least 60 days after first-line treatment, and for Stage IV-B, recurrent, or persistent cervical cancer (in combination with the chemotherapy drug cisplatin). Hycamtin capsules (taken by mouth) are approved specifically for relapsed small cell lung cancer in patients who had at least a partial response to prior treatment and who are at least 45 days out from their first-line chemotherapy.

African Wild Potato has been studied for:

Lung cancer studied, not established African Wild Potato has been studied for this. Natural Medicines rates the evidence: Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate Read what the research shows
African Wild Potato for lung cancer
A very small clinical study in patients with lung cancer shows that taking hypoxoside, a constituent of African wild potato extract, does not seem to prolong survival when compared with historical control. The validity of these findings is limited by the small study size and lack of a control group.
1 source cited

13584. Smit BJ, Albrecht CF, Liebenberg RW, et al A phase I trial of hypoxoside as an oral prodrug for cancer therapy--absence of toxicity. S Afr Med J 1995;85:865-70.

Effectiveness ratings and the research summaries above are the verbatim record from the Natural Medicines database, which grades evidence from “Effective” down to “Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate”. A rating below the top of that scale means researchers have looked at it — not that it works, and never that it can stand in for a prescribed medicine. Do not stop or replace Topotecan on your own; if you are taking African Wild Potato for the same health topic, tell your prescriber, especially if the medicine is being adjusted to a target.

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Topotecan

This page covers African Wild Potato only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Topotecan page lists 19 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Coffee Charcoal (moderate), European Mandrake (moderate), Glucomannan (moderate) and Glucosamine (moderate).

By severity: 1 major · 9 moderate · 9 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Topotecan page

“Topotecan (Hycamtin) treats ovarian, cervical, and small cell lung cancers, and when a drug's entire job is killing tumor cells, anything that weakens it deserves genuine attention. Activated charcoal carries the only major rating among the 19 supplements flagged here.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Topotecan interaction page

One more smart check

Taking African Wild Potato as Part of a Dietary Supplement Product? Check It for Interactions

We hold 1 real supplement products containing African Wild Potato, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides African Wild Potato. Even though African Wild Potato itself has no known interaction with Topotecan, another ingredient on your label might. Find your product and we’ll check every ingredient on its label:

How much people look this up

Where African Wild Potato and Topotecan Sit Against Everything Else

Out of every supplement and medication people look up on HelloPharmacist, here is where these two land this week — and which way each has been moving.

Supplement African Wild Potato

Top half

#416 of 1,452 supplements looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today

Medication Topotecan

Steady interest

#2,599 of 2,830 medications looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today

Position among everything looked up on this site, not a measure of how commonly either one is used or how important it is. A supplement can climb this list because of a news story. It counts every request to the page, automated ones included, and nothing here identifies anyone.

Where does our data come from?

Source: the Natural Medicines (TRC Healthcare) clinical database — the evidence-graded professional reference for herb & supplement interactions.
Citation library: 103,510 references behind our interaction content, 65,311 of them resolved to verified PubMed/DOI sources. See every African Wild Potato reference on this page ↓
Freshness: we automatically re-check this combination every week — this pair was last verified September 13, 2026. The African Wild Potato and Topotecan records this page draws on were last updated July 10, 2026.
What “no known interaction” means: no documented interaction in the sources above — not a guarantee of safety. Supplements are studied far less than prescription drugs, so we say exactly what the evidence supports, and nothing more.

Data structure & sourcing designed and verified by Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS.

Supplement

About African Wild Potato

What is African Wild Potato?

Immune support
Prostate and urinary symptoms
Inflammation
General tonic/wellness
Skin conditions

African Wild Potato (Hypoxis hemerocallidea) is a southern African plant traditionally used as a tonic and for immune, prostate, and inflammatory complaints. Human evidence for these uses is very limited, and safety—especially during pregnancy, breastfeeding, or with serious illness—is not well established. Talk to a pharmacist or doctor before using it.

Hypoxis hemerocallidea · Hypoxidaceae · Corm (underground tuber/rootstock) · Capsules, tablets, tinctures, dried corm extracts, traditional decoctions

An interaction check asks whether these two react with each other — it does not ask whether African Wild Potato is a good idea for someone in your situation. Here is what our African Wild Potato record says about it on its own.

African Wild Potato: dosing

There is no well-established, standardized dose for African Wild Potato. Products vary widely in strength and in how they are prepared, so it is hard to compare one to another.If you choose to use it, follow the directions on the product label and do not exceed them. A pharmacist can help you review a specific product, check for quality concerns, and make sure it is appropriate for you. Choose products from reputable manufacturers, since supplement quality is not tightly regulated.

From our African Wild Potato monograph — the full record covers uses, side effects and every documented interaction.

Read the full African Wild Potato monograph & all interactions

Medication

About Topotecan

What Is Topotecan Used For?

Brand name: Hycamtin

Topotecan treats several serious cancers. The intravenous (IV) forms — sold under the brand names Hycamtin, Topotecan, and Topotecan Hydrochloride — are used for metastatic ovarian cancer that has progressed after prior chemotherapy, for small cell lung cancer (SCLC) that came back at least 60 days after first-line treatment, and for Stage IV-B, recurrent, or persistent cervical cancer (in combination with the chemotherapy drug cisplatin).

Hycamtin capsules (taken by mouth) are approved specifically for relapsed small cell lung cancer in patients who had at least a partial response to prior treatment and who are at least 45 days out from their first-line chemotherapy.

Most-Reported Side Effects for Topotecan

From FAERS, the FDA’s public side-effect reporting system (6,853 reports, all brands). Reports are voluntary and are not proof the drug caused the effect.

Febrile neutropenia 602 reports

Anemia 576 reports

Neutropenia 557 reports

Nausea 459 reports

Disease progression 453 reports

See full Topotecan drug information

Keep checking

Other Drugs & African Wild Potato

Browse every other medication we’ve checked against African Wild Potato — both the ones with a known interaction and the ones without. Select any drug for the full detail.

0Major

1,005Moderate

0Minor

1,824No known interaction

1,005 Moderate 1,824 No interaction

Moderate

1,005 interactions

Showing 60 of 1,005 moderate interactions — see all 1,005 on the African Wild Potato page.

No interaction 1,824 drugs checked — show the list

We also checked African Wild Potato against these medications and found no known interaction in our sources. Open any page to confirm.

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 1,824 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full African Wild Potato list.

See the full African Wild Potato interactions page

See every supplement checked against Topotecan, ranked by severity

Evidence & sources

African Wild Potato References

The 10 references that drive our African Wild Potato monograph and interaction data, from the evidence-graded Natural Medicines (TRC Healthcare) database. Citations with a link open the study on PubMed or the publisher’s site.

Berges RR, Windeler J, Trampisch HJ, et al. Randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial of beta-sitosterol in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. Beta-sitosterol Study Group. Lancet 1995;345:1529-32.
Klippel KF, Hiltl DM, Schipp B. A multicentric, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial of beta-sitosterol (phytosterol) for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Br J Urol 1997;80:427-32.
Berges RR, Windeler J, Trampisch HJ, et al. Randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial of beta-sitosterol in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. Lancet 1995;345:1529-32.
Berges RR, Kassen A, Senge T. Treatment of symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia with beta-sitosterol: an 18-month follow-up. BJU Int 2000;85:842-6.
Mahomed IM, Ojewole JA. Hypoglycemic effect of Hypoxis hemerocallidea corm (African potato) aqueous extract in rats. Methods Find Exp Clin Pharmacol 2003;25:617-23. PubMed
Smit BJ, Albrecht CF, Liebenberg RW, et al A phase I trial of hypoxoside as an oral prodrug for cancer therapy--absence of toxicity. S Afr Med J 1995;85:865-70.
Wilt TJ, Ishani A, Rutks I, et al. Phytotherapy for benign prostatic hyperplasia. Public Health Nutr 2000;3(4A):459-472. PubMed
Jalloh MA, Gregory PJ, Hein D, et al. Dietary supplement interactions with antiretrovirals: a systematic review. Int J STD AIDS. 2017 Jan;28(1):4-15. PubMed
Fasinu PS, Gutmann H, Schiller H, Bouic PJ, Rosenkranz B. The potential of Hypoxis hemerocallidea for herb-drug interaction. Pharm Biol. 2013 Dec;51(12):1499-507.
Havenga K, Abay E, Wiesner L, Viljoen A, Steyn D, Hamman J. The in vitro and in vivo effects of Hypoxis hemerocallidea on indinavir pharmacokinetics: modulation of efflux. Planta Med. 2018;84(12-13):895-901. PubMed

Medication overviews come from MedlinePlus (NIH); supplement label data from the NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database. Content is written and reviewed by licensed HelloPharmacist pharmacists — see our data sources and editorial standards.

Pharmacist Counseling Corner

Taking African Wild Potato and Topotecan Together: Common Questions

Is it safe to take African Wild Potato with Topotecan?

We do not list a known interaction between African Wild Potato and Topotecan. That does not guarantee the combination is risk-free, so confirm with your pharmacist or doctor — especially if you take other medications or have a health condition.

Do African Wild Potato and Topotecan have any of the same side effects?

Yes — our sources link each of them separately to 4 of the same effects. That is not an interaction: neither changes how your body handles the other. It does mean that if one of those effects turns up, it can be harder to tell which one is behind it. They are listed on this page with the source behind each.

Are African Wild Potato and Topotecan used for the same thing?

They overlap in purpose, which usually means the real question is whether you need both rather than whether they are safe together. This page lists the shared uses and how strong the evidence is for African Wild Potato in each. That is a conversation for your prescriber, especially if Topotecan is being adjusted to a target.

How was the African Wild Potato and Topotecan combination checked?

Interactions in our licensed database are recorded against drug classes. Topotecan is filed under 3 classifications, and African Wild Potato has documented interactions with 9 drug classes — none of Topotecan's classifications are among them. A medication can belong to classes beyond those recorded in our dataset, so this describes how the check was run rather than guaranteeing safety.

Does African Wild Potato interact with any other medications?

Yes. African Wild Potato has 1,005 documented drug interactions in our database — Topotecan is simply not one of them. If you take anything else, it is worth checking each one; they are all listed on this page.

Does Topotecan interact with any supplements?

Yes. Topotecan has documented interactions with 19 supplements in our database — African Wild Potato is not one of them. The Topotecan interaction page linked on this page lists every one, ranked by severity.

Written and reviewed by the HelloPharmacist editorial staff. Our editorial policy

Where next

Keep Exploring

African Wild Potato monograph Uses, safety profile, and every drug interaction in one place Topotecan drug information The full plain-English guide to this medication Topotecan supplement interactions Every supplement checked against Topotecan, ranked by severity Supplement interaction checker Check any supplement or product against your medications Browse medications A–Z Every drug we’ve checked against herbs & supplements References The 10 citations behind this page Ask a pharmacist Free, personal answer from our licensed team

Still Have a Question About Topotecan and African Wild Potato?

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This information is for education only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always check with your pharmacist or doctor before starting, stopping, or combining supplements and medications.