Thursday, September 6, 2007

EGCG: Anti-cancerous property

An article in New Scientist magazine mentions that numerous studies suggest that green tea protects against a range of cancers, including lung, prostate and breast cancer. The reason cited is the antioxidant epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), according to Hirofumi Tachibana's team at Kyushu University in Japan. Their research showed that growth of human lung cancer cells that have a cell receptor called 67 LR is slowed significantly after drinking just two or three cups of green tea, which contains EGCG. The research also showed that 67 LR is involved in the propagation of prion diseases such as mad cow disease in humans. So knowledge of EGCG's effect on 67 LR might have implications in the treatment of these diseases.
According to the U.S. National Cancer Institute, in laboratory studies using animals, catechins inactivated oxidants before cell damage occurred, reduced the number and size of tumors, and inhibited the growth of cancer cells.White tea has been claimed to be even more effective, based upon preliminary work by Santana-Rios et al.
Another study from the Oxford Life Science journal Carcinogenesis showing a capacity of green tea in combination with tamoxifen is effective in suppressing breast cancer growth in vitro human breast cancer tumors and in vivo animal experiments in mice.