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Lyc4.5
Lycopene Research
Mostly mechanism / observationalHigh safety
5 peer-reviewed studies
What the evidence says
Mostly mechanism / observational
Most Lycopene studies are mechanism or observational rather than RCTs that measure a clinical effect — keep findings provisional.
Most evidence is from high-quality meta-analyses and randomised trials published 2015–2023 with a typical study size of 3,418 participants.
Based on 5 studies · 3 meta-analyses · 1 RCT · 695,579 total participants
Confidence
High
By outcome
Heart & blood pressureReduced oxidative-stress marker (MDA) but no significant effect on cholesterol, blood pressure, or glucose in RCTs · Unclear
Too few graded studies1 study
Active research area
2 studies in the last 5 years · Latest meta-analysis: 2023
20152023
1Meta-Analysisn=692,012 · very large study2017
Across 42 studies (43,851 prostate cancer cases among ~692,000 participants), both dietary and circulating lycopene were associated with ~12% lower prostate cancer risk with a graded dose-response, but no association with advanced disease.
Rowles JL 3rd, Ranard KM, Smith JW, An R, Erdman JW Jr · Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis (2017)
42 studies, 43,851 prostate cancer cases, 692,012 participants
Across 34 RCTs, lycopene/tomato consumption significantly lowered the oxidative-stress marker MDA but had no significant effect on cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, glucose, or inflammatory markers.
Zamani M, Behmanesh Nia F, Ghaedi K, Mohammadpour S, Amirani N, Goudarzi K, et al. · Curr Pharm Des (2023)
Significant reduction in malondialdehyde (MDA), an oxidative-stress marker
No significant effect on TG, total/LDL/HDL cholesterol, fasting glucose
No significant effect on systolic/diastolic blood pressure, CRP, IL-6, TNF-α, or body weight
Pooling six RCTs, lycopene supplementation had no significant effect on circulating PSA overall (WMD -0.60 µg/L), though a reduction appeared in the subgroup with higher baseline PSA (≥6.5 µg/L).
Sadeghian M, Asadi M, Rahmani S, Sadeghi N, Hosseini SA, Zare Javid A · Nutr Cancer (2021)
6 RCTs in non-metastatic prostate cancer pooled
No significant overall effect on PSA (WMD -0.60, 95% CI -2.01 to 0.81 µg/L)
Significant reduction only in high-baseline-PSA subgroup (WMD -3.74 µg/L)
In 149 volunteers, a 12-week lycopene-rich tomato carotenoid complex significantly protected against UVB-induced skin erythema and upregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α versus placebo, though minimal erythemal dose did not differ.
Among 44 randomized lifestyle-intervention trials, only a few low-risk-of-bias trials (including one supplementing soy, lycopene, selenium and CoQ10) showed benefit; heterogeneity prevented meta-analysis and most trials were underpowered.
Hackshaw-McGeagh LE, Perry RE, Leach VA, Qandil S, Jeffreys M, Martin RM, Lane JA · Cancer Causes Control (2015)
44 RCTs of diet/nutrition/activity in prostate cancer (3,418 patients)
Substantial heterogeneity prevented meta-analysis
A multi-nutrient trial including lycopene (with soy, selenium, CoQ10) showed benefit and low bias risk