Does Green Tea Help With Prostate Cancer?

There has been much discussion in recent years about the positive effects of green tea consumption. Specifically, green tea has been said to aid prostate cancer patients in combatting the disease, and to help men who are at risk of developing the disease avoid it. But are these legitimate scientific theories, or just a lot of hype? To answer this question, one must first look at the properties of green tea.

About Green Tea

Green tea contains antioxidants (or catechins), which combat oxidants (also called “free radicals”), which exist within the human body. Oxidants are known to damage cell protein and genetic material in their quest to stabilize, which makes the body more susceptible to cancer growth. While all tea contains free radical-fighting antioxidants, green tea contains a higher level than black tea, possibly due to the fact that the former is less processed.

Green tea’s effect on prostate cancer patients, and those at risk of developing the cancer, has come into the limelight over the past decade. Studies have shown that green tea catechins (GTCs) specifically target prostate cancer cells, killing them without damaging surrounding benign cells. Two notable studies on the subject have been conducted during the last ten years.

The Italian Study

Italian scientists recruited sixty-two men between the ages of forty-five and seventy-five, all of whom had untreated pre-malignant prostate lesions. Thirty-two of the men each received 600mg of GTCs per day, while the rest were given a placebo. Biopsies were performed after six months, and again after one year. Of the men taking the GTCs, only one developed prostate cancer. Nine clinical trial participants in the placebo group were diagnosed with the disease.

The LSU Health Sciences Center Study

James A. Cardelli, Ph.D., professor and director of basic and translational research in the Feist-Weiller Cancer Center, LSU Health Sciences Center-Shreveport, conducted a similar study. His team recruited twenty-six men, aged forty-one to seventy-two, who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and who were scheduled for prostate gland removal. All clinical trial participants consumed the equivalent of twelve cups of brewed green tea per day, administered in capsule form. All patients exhibited a reduction in prostate cancer serum biomarkers after treatment, with some reductions being as great as thirty-percent.

Conclusion

The medical community has yet to unequivocally profess that green tea will cure prostate cancer. For the time being, doctors and scientists can only offer guarded praise for the substance, based on limited human trial. While current available data does not pronounce green tea to be an absolute cure for prostate cancer, it does offer hope to those suffering from, or at risk for, the disease.

For more information, please consult the following websites:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-06/aafc-gtm061509.php

http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/66/2/1234.full

http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/66/2/1234.full.pdf

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090619112329.htm

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/23190.php

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