Green Tea May Help Prevent Prostate Cancer
Drink Tea for a Healthier Prostate
According to the Prostate Cancer Foundation, prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in American males. Men with prostate cancer have to make personal decisions about treatment options and diet and lifestyle changes. Huge efforts are being made in the scientific community to discover new ways of preventing prostate cancer. One hopeful prevention may be Green Tea.
The following studies have showed promising results regarding the use of green tea as a method for preventing prostate cancer.
Pandey, M. & Gupta, S. (2009). Green tea and prostate cancer: From bench to clinic, Frontiers in Bioscience, E1, 13-25.
This comprehensive review provides an in-depth overview of various biochemical and signaling pathways affected by green tea in various models of prostate cancer.
A decade of research with green tea polyphenols in cell culture system, pre-clinical models like mouse tumor xenograft and transgenic mouse models have proven that green tea polyphenols can influence a number of molecular pathways that has relevance to tumor growth, proliferation and metastasis.
Although green tea polyphenols inhibit and reverse tumorigensis in the post-initation stages, they also hold therapeutic potential through their ability to specifically kill cancer cells without affecting the growth of normal cells. It is only now with the development of sophisticated investigational techniques that the various molecular signaling pathways modulated by them are being understood.
Adhami, V.M, Ahmad, N., & Mukhtar, H. (2003). Molecular targets for green tea in prostate cancer prevention, Journal of Nutrition, 133, 2417-2424.
A summary of multiple studies from the University of Wisconsin pinpointed many specific molecular targets for green tea in prostate cancer prevention. In cell-culture systems of human prostate cancer cells, they found that the major polyphenolic constituent EGCG of green tea induces apoptosis, cell-growth inhibition, and cell-cycle dysregulation. They also found that EGCG treatment (from green tea) of certain prostate cancer cells resulted in induction of genes that have growth-inhibitory effects and repression of genes that belong to the G-protein signaling networking (connected to prostate specific cancer).
In animal studies, oral infusion of a polyphenolic fraction isolated from green tea at a human achievable dose (equivalent to 6 cups of green tea per day) significant inhibited prostate cancer development and metastasis. An extension of these studies showed an increased expression of genes related to angiogenesis. These studies and data suggest that there are multiple targets for prostate cancer prevention by green tea.
The studies are out there and the results are in. Green tea is effective in preventing in potentially treating prostate cancer. Green tea is a beverage that is great for fighting off infections (antibacterial), viruses (antiviral), weight loss, and even cancer. It’s a great alternative to coffee or other high sugar beverages.
Please note that Green Tea is not a cure-all. Readers are encouraged to eat a balanced diet with all kinds of anti-cancer foods (like blueberries), exercise to maintain overall physical health, and continue working hard to have a health-conscience lifestyle.
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