Green Tea and Oral Cancer

Green Tea and Oral Cancer - EGCG in green tea kills oral cancer cells in laboratory studies.

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is the major bioactive component of green tea. EGCG has been shown to inhibit the proliferation of many cancers. Studies have also shown drinking green tea can reduce the incidence of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NCP).

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) accounts form most oral cancers.

In a laboratory cancer cell study researchers treated SSC-4 human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells with EGCG extract. EGCG caused the OSCC cells to die in a dose and time dependent manner. In other words the higher the dose and the longer exposure to EGCG the better the results.

Another group of researchers planted OSCC cells into animals. EGCG supplements decreased the oral cancer tumor cell growth.

Yet another group of researchers found treatment with EGCG from green tea inhibited the growth of NCP cells by did not affect the growth of non-magnlignant cells. EGCG also reduced the migration and invasion of the cancer cells.

The researchers stated "EGCG can inhibit the proliferation and invasiveness, and induce apoptosis, of NPC cells, making it a promising agent for chemoprevention or adjuvant therapy of NPC."

These research studies used concentrated EGCG powder. You can not get eough EGCG from drinking green tea. EGCG extract capsules are available.

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Reference Sources
Onco Targets and Therapy. 2015 Feb 20;8:461-70. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate suppresses cell proliferation and promotes apoptosis and autophagy in oral cancer SSC-4 cells.

Cancer Letters. 2015 Feb 23. Upregulation of B-cell translocation gene 2 by epigallocatechin-3-gallate via p38 and ERK signaling blocks cell proliferation in human oral squamous cell carcinoma cells. Lee JC, Chung LC, et al.

Return from Green Tea and Oral Cancer to 2015 Natural Cancer News.