Study participants drank 6 cups of green tea daily
Consuming green tea prior to undergoing prostatectomy reduced markers of inflammation in men with prostate cancer, according to recent study data.
“Our study showed that drinking 6 cups of green tea affected biomarkers in prostate tissue at the time of surgery,” said Susanne M. Henning, PhD, RD, adjunct professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles. “This research offers new insights into the mechanisms by which green tea consumption may reduce the risk for prostate cancer by opposing processes such as inflammation, which are associated with prostate cancer growth.”
For their study, potential green tea benefits were examined in 67 men with prostate cancer who were scheduled to undergo prostatectomy. Henning and colleagues randomly assigned the men to either 6 cups of brewed green tea or water daily for 3 to 8 weeks, depending on the timing of their surgery. Blood and urine samples were collected before and after the green tea or water consumption. Prostate tissue was collected following the pathology exam.
The data showed that in men consuming green tea, serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) concentrations were significantly lower at the end of the study compared with baseline levels. Prostate tissue PSA protein expression was also lower in men assigned to drink green tea compared with controls at the conclusion of the study.
Furthermore, immunostaining analysis indicated that nuclear factor kappa B, a marker of inflammation, was significantly reduced in the green tea group compared with the control group. Also, for men consuming green tea compared with controls, a urinary marker of oxidative DNA damage was significantly decreased in urine.
No differences in markers of tumor cell proliferation were found between the 2 treatment groups.
Source: National Cancer Institute.