Many of us love the hot kick of a curry searing with chili peppers and ginger. Some can't stand the burn.

But spice-phobes should consider a change of heart - since new research shows these two ingredients combine to create a compound that fights cancer.

The finding, from the American Chemical Society, builds on previous studies that suggested a property in chili peppers (capsaicin) fuels tumor growth.

However, according to the new research, capsaicin can be turned into a cancer-fighting property when combined with ginger's pungent compound 6-gingergol.

Ginger has long been touted as a health food, recommended to patients for everything from a cold to a severe disease as it stimulates anti-inflammatory cells.

Over several weeks, the ACS researchers fed mice prone to lung cancer either capsaicin or 6-gingerol alone, or a combination of both.

During the study period, all of the mice that received only capsaicin developed lung carcinomas while only half of the mice fed 6-gingerol did.

Surprisingly, an even lower percentage - only 20 per cent - of the mice given both compounds developed cancer.

The researchers also dug into the potential molecular underpinnings of how the compounds interact to lead to this effect.