Study proves benefit of green tea for leukemia sufferers

Thursday May 28, 2009 (foodconsumer.org) -- There may be hope for chronic leukemia sufferers: a compound found in a particular green tea extract reduces cancer cells in the most common form of the disease, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

The study is authored by Tait Shanafeit of the Mayo Clinic and is being published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. High doses of the compound epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) can be tolerated. The greatest benefit is to those in the early stages of CLL: the condition is stabilized by the chemical. It is expected to work well in tandem with other treatments. In addition, those who were studied showed a 50% reduction in lymph node size.

Prior to this report, the chemical showed promise in the lab; it killed cancer cells in the tissue of lab rats and of humans. This study is the first that provides evidentiary documentation chronicling its success among actual leukemia patients.

While green tea promises everything from protecting against heart attack and stroke to curing all forms of cancer known to the modern world, there has been very little clinical evidence to back up the claims.

The Pharmacology Unit, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago reviewed much clinical evidence earlier in the year in an effort to either verify or disprove that green tea does all that some claim it can do. At the end of the analysis, the researchers reported that the results of various observational studies have been inconclusive with regards to green tea and the prevention of certain cancers. However, they went on to say that “there are trends towards prevention in breast and prostate cancers.”

Following the publication of the Mayo study, they will be able to add CLL to their green tea prevention trend list.

(By Rachel Stockton, and edited by Heather Kelley)