Green Tea Extract Shows Positive Signs For People With Blood Cancer

The applicants of a research study regarding green tea extract were four victims of a very most common type of blood cancer called CLL, who were being specified supplements of green tea extract which contained the potent antioxidant epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). A decline in cancerous cells in their bodies was observed after a certain period of time. Three-quarters of the patients taking the green tea extract expressed enhanced response to treatment and one had an improved white blood cell count. One patient whose lymph nodes had inflamed up had decreased in size after she started taking green tea pills.

In the early part of the year 2004, the same team of scientists had administered a laboratory research of the influence of EGCG on leukemia cells. The findings were available in a 2004 edition of the journal Blood. It had been conceived that the green tea extract exterminated the destructive leukemia cells. “The experience of these individuals provides some suggestion that our previously published laboratory findings may actually translate into clinical effects for patients with the disease,” the leader of the team of scientists said.

“Green tea has long been thought to have cancer-prevention capabilities. It is exciting that research is now demonstrating this agent may provide new hope for CLL patients,” the leader of the team that conducted experiments on green tea extract said. To this day, no cure has been established for CLL, a progressing malignancy that usually targets people over 55 years of age. According to the leader of the study on green tea extract, further studies are essential for establishing the correct process and effect and the quantity of the green tea extract that is the most favorable.

“We do not know how many patients were taking similar products and failed to have any benefit. We also do not yet know the optimal dose that should be used, the frequency with which patients should take the medication, and what side effects will be observed with long-term administration,” he said. The hematologist is now developing an EGCG pill for the US National Cancer Institute to find out whether the extract could be used to treat patients with CLL.
The medicinal fraternity expressed optimism at the outcome of the study, but felt that it might be too premature to party. “The findings are interesting, but we cannot say yet this is a new treatment for cancer. We need to bear out a large scale, controlled trial to see if the findings hold true,” said Ken Campbell of United Kingdom’s Leukemia Research Fund. Around 7300 Americans are identified with CLL every year, with men being more susceptible to the disease than women.