Research Finds Green Tea Helpful Against Breast Cancer

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Research Finds Green Tea Helpful Against Breast Cancer

Military scientists find antitumor effect in breast cancer cells

December 6, 2007

Green tea has long been thought to hold healing powers. Mysticism or medical

fact? Increasingly, scientists are coming to the conclusion that the beverage

provides some real benefits.

A team of scientists led by Dr. Radha Maheshwari, professor of Pathology at

the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) and Rajesh

Loganathan Thangapazham, a graduate student, have shown that green tea has

antitumor effect in breast cancer cells. The recently concluded study will be

published in the Journal of Cancer Biology and Therapy, December 2007.

Maheshwari’s study observed that green tea can inhibit the invading capacity

of the breast cancer cells and also identified the mechanisms involved in

invasion-inhibiting effects of green tea.

Epidemiological studies also suggest that the risk of breast cancer is found

to be less in Asian countries consuming green tea. These studies have greater

clinical significance since the ability of these phytochemicals to activate

anti-cancer program of tumor cells might determine the success of chemotherapy.

A study by Maheshwari that was published earlier this year in Cancer Letters

showed that green tea is effective in delaying tumor incidence as well as in

reducing the tumor burden.

Green tea was found to inhibit growth of tumors as well as induce death of

breast cancer cells.

Background

Cancer is a disease caused by the increased proliferation of cells which

group and form a lump, or tumor. Tumors can be benign or malignant.

Cells from malignant tumors break away from the original tumor and spread to

other parts of the body growing and forming new tumors. They can invade,

penetrate into blood and lymphatic vessels, circulate via the bloodstream and

can

grow in a normal organ or tissue anywhere in the body.

Unfortunately treatment options for metastasis are very limited and usually

represent the end stage of the disease. Unlike malignant tumors, benign tumors

do not invade and, with very rare exceptions, are not life threatening.

Chemoprevention broadly implies the use of a chemical substance of either

natural or synthetic origin, to prevent, hamper, arrest or reverse a disease.

Phytochemicals are plant based non nutritive components with substantial

medicinal properties.

Located on the grounds of Bethesda’s National Naval Medical Center and across

from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, land, USU is the

nation’s federal school of medicine and graduate school of nursing.

Students are active-duty uniformed officers in the Air Force, Army, Navy, and

Public Health Service, who are being educated to deal with wartime

casualties, national disasters, emerging infectious diseases, and other public

health

emergencies.

The university conducts sponsored research in the combined sciences,

including military-relevant research in parasitology, infectious diseases,

treatment

of traumatic injury, and other issues related to health, war, and national

disaster.

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