A green tea extract known as EGCG may be beneficial in the treatment of leukemia due to its ability to kill malignant cells.
The Mayo Clinic in the United States recently discovered that 3 out of 4 patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) treated there showed positive clinical responses after consuming green tea and taking over-the-counter medications containing EGCG. The condition improved significantly in the following months. These findings were published in the online journal Leukemia Research.
CLL is a type of blood cancer that affects the bone marrow, where lymphocytes replace healthy blood cells. This disease typically appears in or after middle age and progresses slowly. Previously, the Mayo Clinic conducted an in vitro study showing that EGCG kills blood cancer cells in CLL patients by disrupting the signaling pathways that help these cells survive.
In the new report, lead researcher Tait Shanafelt observed that a patient with swollen lymph nodes experienced a reduction in node size after taking green tea capsules twice a day for one year. The other patients also showed a significant improvement in lymphocyte counts after consuming 8 cups of green tea daily. However, these observations are not sufficient to conclude the efficacy of green tea in treating CLL. The optimal dosage, treatment regimen, and long-term side effects of this therapy are still unknown.
Green tea is renowned for its cancer-fighting properties due to its high concentration of antioxidants, which help prevent cell damage leading to cancer and heart disease…
Mỹ Linh (according to Forbes)
