According to the American Cancer Society, although it has been used in traditional Asian folk medicine for a variety of ailments, “there is little reliable scientific evidence to support claims that sea cucumber is effective in treating cancer, arthritis, and other diseases”.

A single study conducted on an unreported number of mice found intraperitoneal injection of sea cucumber extract to be somewhat effective in high doses (100 ppm or mg/kg) against internal pain, but ineffective against externally induced pain. Another study suggested that the sea cucumber contains all the fatty acids necessary to play a potentially active role in tissue repair. Sea cucumbers are being researched for use in treating a wide number of ailments; including colon cancer. Surgical probes made of nanocomposite material based off the sea cucumber have been shown to reduce brain scarring. One study found that a lectin from Cucumaria echinata impaired the development of the malaria parasite when produced by transgenic mosquitoes.