Despite anecdotal claims, there’s no scientific evidence to support colloidal silver as a treatment for cancer. It can be toxic, and the FDA has taken legal action against companies making false marketing claims about its benefits.

Sometimes, people with cancer turn to alternative treatment methods, in addition to chemotherapy and other traditional cancer treatments, to help improve their chances of overcoming the disease.

One popular but unproven alternative cancer treatment is colloidal silver supplements. Marketed as a treatment for immune support, colloidal silver claims to have cancer-killing properties.

It’s important to be aware that there’s no scientific evidence to support these anecdotal claims. In fact, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned that it is neither safe nor effective for treating any illness or ailment and could lead to dangerous side effects.

Read on to learn what we know about the safety and risks of colloidal silver and the available evidence about its effect on cancer.

Colloidal silver is a popular silver supplement, which is a liquid containing silver particles.

Before antibiotics, people took silver to “kill” viruses and bacteria. Silver preparations were popular as nose drops and throat sprays.

Prior to 1938, silver was widely used to help treat or prevent a variety of diseases. However, after the invention of modern antibiotics, silver quickly became obsolete.

Although some retailers may still promote colloidal silver as an antimicrobial and disinfectant remedy against things like infections, viruses, and even cancer, the medical community no longer recommends silver for any medical treatment.

The FDA and Federal Trade Commission have taken legal action against several companies for falsely marketing their colloidal silver products.

According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, the risk of using silver products exceeds any unsubstantiated benefit.

Silver is not an essential nutrient and has no known purpose in the body. Ingesting it has been associated with various serious side effects such as seizures, psychosis, nerve damage, and, in some cases, death.

Silver can also cause argyria, which causes the skin to turn gray or blue. This is usually permanent and happens when silver particles affect cell pigmentation. Colloidal silver can also affect drug absorption.

Topical silver may have some medical uses, such as in the treatment of burns or skin infections. However, no approved oral drugs contain colloidal silver.

Colloidal silver’s cancer-killing claims may stem from the misguided belief that the mineral is a “near perfect antibiotic,” as homeopathic practitioner Robert Scott Bell put it in the Los Angeles Times in 2009.

Test-tube research from 2020 suggests that colloidal silver may have some antibacterial properties. However, this conclusion can’t be applied to humans without more research, and it isn’t possible to conclude from these findings anything about colloidal silver’s cancer-treating potential.

One 2022 review of research examined available studies on silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), a form of colloidal silver. The researchers concluded that these particles could potentially specifically trigger various mechanisms that lead to tumor cell death.

While this may seem like the substance may have potential in cancer treatment, the interaction between silver and living organism cells may actually decrease effectiveness, especially with nanoparticles. Furthermore, research hasn’t yet figured out an effective way to use colloidal silver in this way without potentially damaging healthy cells.

In addition, according to a 2020 study, more than 70% of commercial products, including some labeled as colloidal silver, actually contained ionic silver.

Unlike colloidal silver, ionic silver has no solid particles. It consists of individual silver atoms or molecules that carry a positive charge. These silver ions are very active and tend to bond with other molecules in the liquid.

This form of silver has the potential to be just as toxic as colloidal silver, and there’s even less evidence on how it behaves in the body. Also, there may not be an easy way to tell exactly what kind of silver you’re consuming.

More research is needed to fully understand how colloidal silver behaves in the human body before using colloidal silver for any medical purpose.

Although colloidal silver may have some properties that can damage tumor cells, there’s no scientific proof that it is a safe remedy against any cancer. In fact, it can cause serious side effects to health.

Until there is more research, it is not advisable to take colloidal silver supplements to help treat cancer.

Since the FDA has warned against colloidal silver, it’s a good idea to speak with your doctor about safe ways to include herbs or supplements and other complementary approaches to help with recovery and healing.