Can Green Tea Improve Your Chances Of Surviving Breast Cancer?
Breast cancer is one of the most frightening diseases faced by today’s women. After nonmelanoma skin cancer, breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women. About 13% of American women will develop breast cancer at some point in their lifetime. And it is the second leading cause of cancer death among women after lung cancer.
Scientists continue looking for new information to determine what causes breast cancer and how to prevent and treat this disease. We still don’t know what causes breast cancer, but we understand some risk factors.
In addition, we have come a long way in treating breast cancer – though many women die each year. Some of the research is very promising, including research on green tea.
One group of people living with breast cancer that cause doctors great concern are those with a higher than average expression of the epidermal growth factor Her-2/neu. Her-2/neu is a growth factor that sometimes presents itself in a tumor. Overexpression of this growth factor is a concern for breast cancer patients.
During routine testing of patients recently diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, doctors will determine the level of Her-2/neu. If the level is high, this information is used to guide treatment. The level of this growth factor is significant because studies have shown that patients with overexpression of Her-2/neu have a higher likelihood of their cancer metastasizing and have an overall lower survival rate. The Her-2/neu is high in about 30% of breast cancer patients.
As part of the ongoing research to find effective treatments for breast cancer, scientists have been looking seriously at the benefits of green tea in preventing and treating cancer. Asian cultures have used green tea for its healing properties for centuries, and their overall cancer rate is much lower than that of the Western world.
Tea is derived from the Camellia sinensis plant. You’ll hear tea referred to as green, white, or black. These differences do not result from different tea leaves but rather from differences in how the tea leaves are processed. Green and white teas are not fermented during processing, but black tea goes through such processing.
Tea leaves contain catechins, part of the flavan-3-ol class of flavonoids, which are antioxidants. EGCG is one of the catechins in tea and a potent antioxidant. Fermenting the tea leaves converts the catechins to other compounds that are not as healthy as those in unfermented tea. So, the research focus has been on green tea because of its healthier antioxidant form.
What’s So Great About Antioxidants?
During our body’s process of converting food to energy, we create free radicals in our body. These free radicals damage our cells and DNA if we don’t combat them. Left unchecked, free radicals contribute to speeding up the aging process and to causing diseases such as cancer, heart attack, and stroke.
Antioxidants, however, can help us combat these free radicals, and a diet in antioxidants is linked to preventing cancer, heart disease, and stroke. So, doctors recommend a diet high in antioxidants – which means eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and drinking green tea daily.
However, scientists also seem to be finding out that green tea may be able to increase the effectiveness of some cancer treatments. Several studies conducted on mice already diagnosed with cancer have shown that taking green tea and the cancer treatments can increase the effectiveness of the traditional therapy and may slow down cancer progression to other cells. There is promising research; some is directly related to breast cancer treatment.
The Boston University School of Medicine conducted one particular study of interest. In this study, female mice with breast cancer whose Her-2/neu levels were very high were treated with green tea and their regular cancer treatment. Mice that ingested the green tea showed slower growth of their tumors and a slower progression of their cancer than those treated with the same medicine without green tea as an adjunct therapy.*
Researchers who found these results also believe that if green tea can inhibit the growth of tumors in patients already diagnosed with cancer, it may also be effective in preventing cancerous cells from forming and growing in the first place. This coincides with other research indicating that green tea may significantly prevent cancer. In addition, it helps explain why Asian cultures have such a low cancer incidence compared to the Western world.
This is encouraging news for a group of people living with breast cancer who have traditionally had a lower survival rate than others with breast cancer. Suppose we can slow the rate of cancer progression in that overexpression of Her-2/neu to approximately the same rate as other breast cancer patients. In that case, we may be far more effective at treating these patients.
Far more research is needed in breast cancer prevention and treatment. In addition, scientists will spend more time examining green tea’s benefits in cancer prevention and treatment. But, it seems clear that green tea has a place in preventing and treating many diseases, including cancer.
Even though more research is needed, there is no downside to adding green tea to your diet to help prevent disease or improve your health if it is already failing. Scientists have found no risks involved with drinking green tea. It has no side effects and is a healthy alternative to coffee because of its high level of antioxidants and because it is much lower in caffeine than coffee. So, get a jump start on your antioxidants by drinking green tea!