About Cancer

Only skin cancer is more common in men than prostate cancer. Each year, more than 200,000 men are diagnosed with this disease, and it is the third leading cause of cancer death in men.

But, recently there has been more and more information to suggest that drinking green tea may reduce a man's risk of getting prostate cancer. Studies both in laboratory animals and humans have shown that green tea is a powerful cancer preventer, of both prostate and other forms of cancer.

One study is particularly interesting. This study, reported by the UK Tea Council studied a group of 62 men who were already at a high risk of developing prostate cancer. 32 of the men were given green tea for one year; the other 30 were not.

The patients were between the ages of 45 and 75 years of age, and all had been diagnosed with pre-malignant lesions that are the pre-cursor to prostate cancer. More than one third of men with such lesions will normally develop prostate cancer within one year. The subjects were given no other treatment for the lesions other than the green tea or placebo.

When the subjects were re-evaluated one year later, only one out of the 32 men who were given green tea had developed prostate cancer. In the control group, nine out of 30 had gone on to develop the disease.

The study concluded that green tea's anti-oxidants have the power to actually kill off prostate cancer cells, leaving the healthy cells in tact. Green tea induces a state of apoptosis; a systematic killing off of body cells. Apoptosis occurs regularly in the body, helping to ensure that our healthiest cells are those that survive, but it is rare to find a substance outside the body that can induce such activity.

This is just more evidence to support what researchers have believed for some time now -green tea prevents cancer. There have been numerous other studies that have come to the same conclusion, both for prostate cancer and for other forms of cancer, too.

At least one other study has shown that green tea prevents prostate cancer. Another set of research showed that green tea appears to have the ability to act as a scavenger against a substance called Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). ROS are a form of free radicals that contribute to the development of prostate cancer, when they are produced in excess. The study showed that the particular anti-oxidants in green tea were effective at eradicating the ROS cells before they could turn into cancer cells.

There have also been quite a few studies that suggest that green tea can prevent other forms of cancer. For example, one study showed that women who consumed green tea were significantly less likely to develop ovarian cancer, and that the more tea they drank, the lower their risk.

There are also several bodies of research that indicate that green tea may prevent breast cancer. There have also been several studies showing that breast cancer may even be helpful for women who already have breast cancer. One study noted that one group of breast cancer patients, those with high Her -2/neu readings, were significantly affected by drinking green tea.

Her-2/neu is a growth factor that sometimes presents itself in a tumor. An over expression of this growth factor is a concern for breast cancer patients, because it indicates a higher risk for the cancer spreading and an overall lower survival rate. Drinking green tea appears to slow the growth and spread of the cancer in mice with a high Her-2/neu reading.

Another study on breast cancer patients showed that chemotherapy is more effective when it is administered along with green tea. The green tea appears to increase the concentration level of the cancer drugs in the cancerous cells, so that they have a greater effect.

Green tea has even been shown to be effective in treating skin cancer. Another study showed excellent results in skin cancer prevention and treatment in mice with the use of green tea both applied topically and given orally. The study found that green tea applied topically seems to scavenge and destroy skin cells that are likely to become cancerous before they can mutate. The mice also showed a lower risk of skin cancer when given green tea orally.

So, as you can see, there is a lot of evidence to suggest that green tea is effective at preventing cancer. It is also likely that green tea may be an effective treatment for some forms of cancer, too.

It's clear that we need far more research on green tea before we have a conclusive understanding of what green tea can do and how it works. However, it does appear to be clear that there is much promise in green tea for the future of cancer prevention and treatment.

So, if you're at a high risk for developing prostate cancer, or any other cancer, adding green tea to your diet is a wise choice. Green tea has no side effects, and it may be able to significantly lower your risk of several forms of cancer.