Cauliflower + Nivolumab

Cauliflower has 186 moderate known drug interactions in our database — Nivolumab isn’t one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

We haven’t checked that one against Cauliflower yet — ask our pharmacists directly.

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

At least one FDA label for a product containing Nivolumab says to take it on an empty stomach. Most supplements — Cauliflower included — are taken with a meal, so the easy mistake is swallowing both together at breakfast. Where that rule applies, keep Nivolumab on its own and move Cauliflower to a meal later in the day.

This may not be true of your version. Food instructions belong to the product, not the ingredient: two Nivolumab products can carry different directions, and extended-release forms often differ from immediate-release ones. The label we read is quoted below — check the directions on your own box or bottle, or ask your pharmacist, for how to take the exact product you were given.

A food rule is not an interaction — it is about how much of the medicine you absorb. The directions that came with your own product, and your pharmacist, outrank anything on this page.

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

Nivolumab is prescribed for: Opdivo (nivolumab) is used to treat many types of cancer in adults, and some in patients 12 years and older. It can be used alone or in combination with other therapies depending on the cancer type and stage. Cancers it treats include melanoma (including after surgery to reduce the chance of the cancer coming back), non-small cell lung cancer, malignant pleural mesothelioma, advanced renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer), classical Hodgkin lymphoma, squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, urothelial carcinoma (bladder cancer), colorectal cancer with specific genetic features (MSI-H or dMMR), hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer), esophageal cancer, gastroesophageal junction cancer, and gastric (stomach) cancer. Some uses require the tumor to test positive for a protein called PD-L1, and some are specific to certain stages of disease or prior treatments received.

Cauliflower has been studied for:

• Bladder cancer studied, not established Cauliflower has been studied for this. Natural Medicines rates the evidence: Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate Read what the research shows

  Cauliflower for bladder cancer

  Epidemiologic research has found that eating about 1 cup per week of cruciferous vegetables, such as cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, or collards, is associated with a 30% decreased risk of developing bladder cancer in men and women.

  2 sources cited

  1. 14864. Zhao H, Lin J, Grossman HB, et al. Dietary isothiocyanates, GSTM1, GSTT1, NAT2 polymorphisms and bladder cancer risk. Int J Cancer 2007;120:2208-13.
  2. 26184. Michaud DS, Spiegelman D, Clinton SK, et al. Fruit and vegetable intake and incidence of bladder cancer in a male prospective cohort. J Natl Cancer Inst 1999;91(7):605-13. PubMed ↗
• Lung cancer studied, not established Cauliflower has been studied for this. Natural Medicines rates the evidence: Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate Read what the research shows

  Cauliflower for lung cancer

  Population research has found that increased dietary intake of cauliflower is associated with a 61% reduction in the risk of lung cancer in women; however, it does not seem to be associated with a reduced risk of lung cancer in men.

  1 source cited

  1. 26185. Feskanich D, Ziegler RG, Michaud DS, et al. Prospective study of fruit and vegetable consumption and risk of lung cancer among men and women. J Natl Cancer Inst 2000;92(22):1812-23. PubMed ↗

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 Nivolumab on your own; if you are taking Cauliflower for the same health topic, tell your prescriber, especially if the medicine is being adjusted to a target.

This page covers Cauliflower only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Nivolumab page lists 1 supplement it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: American Pawpaw (minor).

By severity: 1 minor.

Open the Nivolumab interaction page ›

We hold 1,705 real supplement products containing Cauliflower, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Cauliflower. Even though Cauliflower itself has no known interaction with Nivolumab, another ingredient on your label might. Find your product and we’ll check every ingredient on its label:

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.

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.