Green tea and its role in cancer prevention and therapy

Uriel Bachrach, Zohara Yaniv*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Cancer is one of the major causes of mortality worldwide, and despite desperate attempts, many patients still suffer from poor prognosis. Hence, efforts for discovering and developing more potent and effective anticancer agents continue. A growing body of research and experiments indicates the potential of some medicinal plants as a possible source of anticancer agents. In recent years, the health benefits of consuming green tea (derived from the plant Camellia sinensis) have been extensively documented. The ailments which can be treated and/or prevented include different types of cancer, heart and liver diseases, and neuroprotective and antioxidant activities. Many of these beneficial effects are related to tea catechins, particularly (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) content. Green tea consumption is also linked to the prevention of many types of cancer including breast, prostate, lung, colon, and stomach cancers. Moreover, cancer rates in Asian countries such as Japan and China where green tea is consumed in large quantities are significantly low according to epidemiological studies. These associations are confirmed by experiments with animals as well as cultured cancer cells. The use of EGCG instead of crude green tea extracts permitted studies to elucidate the mode of anticancer of green tea. Clinical studies demonstrating the prevention of cancer by green tea or by EGCG were recently questioned. The use of the nontoxic green tea or EGCG as anticancer agent is highly recommended.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMedicinal Plants - Recent Advances in Research and Development
PublisherSpringer Singapore
Pages309-326
Number of pages18
ISBN (Electronic)9789811010859
ISBN (Print)9789811010842
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2016

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016.

Keywords

  • Apoptosis
  • Cancer prevention
  • Cancer therapy
  • EGCG
  • Green tea
  • Oncogene
  • Signal transduction

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