Objective To study the distribution and pharmacokinetics of curcumin in tumor-bearing mice.Methods Curcumin injection(100 mg/kg)was injected to the tumor-bearing mice through tail vein.The liver,kidney,lung,heart,parenchymal tumor and ascitic fluid were acquired to abstract curcumin at 20,40,100 minutes after injection respectively.A HPLC method was established for determination of curcumin.Results Curcumin contents in the liver,kidney,lung,heart,parenchymal tumor and ascitic fluid were 6.40,0.98,0.13,0.06,0.05 and 0.02 ? g/g after injection of 20 minutes respectively.While after 40 minutes,the contents reduced to 0.20,0.06 and 0.02 ? g/g in the liver,kidney and lung respectively,and could not been detected in other tissues.After 100 minutes,curcumin was only detectable in the liver(0.04 ? g/g).Conclusion Curcumin distribution is focused in the liver of tumor-bearing mice,while the focal concentration is lower .Metabolism of curcumin in vivo is fast.