A new study conducted in China indicates that eating raw garlic frequently may significantly lower risk of lung cancer.

Prior in vitro and in vivo experimental studies have already suggested that garlic renders an anticancer property against some types of cancer.

Authors of the report analyzed data from a case-control study of 399 incident lung cancer cases and 466 controls conducted in 2005 to 2007 in Taiyuan, China to examine the association between raw garlic consumption and risk of lung cancer.

Compared to participants who did not raw garlic, those who ate garlic less than twice per week were found 44% less likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer.   Those eating raw garlic twice or more often per week had their risk cut by 50%, compared to those who did not eat any.

This study does not prove that eating raw garlic is the cause for the reduced risk for lung cancer, but the possibility exists.  Previous in vitro studies have identified anticancer properties against lung cancer.

In a 2013 study, Yehuda Schwarz at Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center in Tel-Aviv, Israel and colleagues exposed two lines of non-small cell lung cancer cells, one human cell line and the other murine cell line to see how allylmercapto-S-thiol a compound found in garlic affect the cancer cell cultures.

It was found that this garlic compound inhibited the proliferation of both cell lines and also induced apoptosis of human non-small lung cancer cells.  And treatment with this compound influenced cell motility, adhesion and aggregation of cancer cells in a way that the cancer cells are less likely to metastasize.  (David Liu)

Ajay A. Myneni, Shen-Chih Chang, Rungui Niu, Li Liu, Mya K. Swanson, Jiawei Li, Jia Su, Gary A. Giovino, Shunzhang Yu, Zuo-Feng Zhang and Lina Mu, Raw Garlic Consumption and Lung Cancer in a Chinese Population, Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 25(4); 624–33. 

Yehuda Schwarz, Limor Kindil, Amir Bar-Shai, Aharon Rabinkov, Alex Star, The active compound of garlic to treat non-small cell lung cancer: in vitro studies, European Respiratory Journal 2013 42: P3111