Study Shows How Green Tea May Fight Bladder Cancer

From: Roman Bystrianyk (rbystrianyk_at_gmail.com)
Date: 02/24/05

  • Next message: Robert: "Re: Plant derivative attacks the roots of leukemia" 
    Date: 23 Feb 2005 19:42:58 -0800

    http://www.healthsentinel.com/news.php?event=news_print_list_item&id=631

    Amy Norton, "Study Shows How Green Tea May Fight Bladder Cancer",
    Reuters UK, February 23, 2005,
    Link:
    http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=7718260

    Green tea extract may interfere with a process that helps early bladder
    cancer to spread throughout the body, new laboratory research suggests.

    The findings, say researchers, bolster ongoing studies into green tea
    extract as a cancer treatment -- and may give green tea drinkers more
    reason to savor every cup.

    The investigators found that when they exposed human bladder cells to
    both a cancer-causing chemical and green tea extract, the extract
    interfered with a particular process by which early cancer cells become
    invasive and spread throughout body tissue.

    This process involves the "remodeling" of actin, a structural protein
    in cells that is essential for cell movement. Actin remodeling allows
    cancer cells to move and invade nearby healthy tissue.

    Based on the new findings, green tea extract may get in the way of this
    process by activating a protein known as Rho, which helps regulate
    actin's organization in cells and has been implicated in tumor
    development and progression.

    Dr. JianYu Rao and his colleagues at the University of California Los
    Angeles report the findings in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.

    A number of studies have suggested that green tea and extracts of the
    beverage may have cancer-preventing abilities, possibly due to the
    tea's concentration of certain antioxidants -- compounds that help ward
    off cell damage that can lead to cancer, heart disease and other ills.

    But exactly how green tea may act in the body to fight cancer is not
    clear. Lab research has suggested it can act in several ways -- from
    hindering tumors from forming their own blood supply to forcing
    abnormal cells to commit suicide.

    The current study points to an entirely new mechanism, Rao told Reuters
    Health in an interview.

    Green tea extract, he explained, appears to diminish cancer cells'
    invasiveness -- suggesting that it could be used in the early stages of
    cancer treatment.

    One recent study found that green tea extract brought no benefit to men
    with advanced prostate cancer. But Rao said that any effects of the
    extract on cancer would probably occur in the early stages.

    He and his colleagues are now conducting a clinical trial to see
    whether green tea extract can reduce the risk of bladder cancer
    recurrence in patients with a history of smoking, which is a risk
    factor for the disease.

    Uncovering the details of how green tea may stymie cancer could help
    doctors figure out which patients are likely to benefit from treatment
    with extracts, Rao said. It may be possible to look for specific
    markers of actin remodeling and Rho activation in patients' urine to
    determine who is best suited for such therapy.

    It's also possible, Rao said, that drinking green tea could reduce the
    risk of developing bladder cancer in the first place -- though no one
    knows how many cups a person would have to sip over a lifetime.

    SOURCE: Clinical Cancer Research, February 15, 2005.

  • Next message: Robert: "Re: Plant derivative attacks the roots of leukemia"

    Relevant Pages