by David J. Eloi

Created on: June 27, 2009   Last Updated: July 02, 2009

Millions of people of different cultures and geography drink green tea as part of a daily routine. Green tea (Camellia sinensis) is made from the dried evergreen leaves of a large shrub native to eastern Asia. Green tea is often taken to treat a variety of ailments such as fatigue, distress, arthritis, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, high blood pressure, weight gain, Crohn's disease, and forms of cancer.

Green tea is known to contain antioxidants (molecules that protect cells against the negative effects of free radicals or molecules produced when the body breaks down food) of which epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is attributed to the slowing of breast cancer cell proliferation.

To date, no one really understands the mechanism of action responsible for EGCG's contribution to the slowing of breast cancer cell growth, but the Experimental Biology 2008 conference reported on resent research performed on female laboratory mice injected with breast cancer cells while also being fed a solution containing EGCG. Researchers found that the tumor size shrank by as much as 66 percent and endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels decreased as well.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEFG) is a substance produced by endothelial cells; cells that line the interior surface of blood vessels, creating a type of barrier between the exterior of the blood vessel and the interior lumen or tubular space of the blood vessel. VEFG, otherwise known as a mitogen (a substance that triggers mitosis or cell division), acts on endothelial cells stimulating the formation of new blood vessels. In short, VEFG is produced by a group of cells within the body's blood vessels telling the blood vessels to grow.

Cancer is the result of cells being unable to shut off their growth cycle, in turn, proliferating out of control to no end. Every cell within the body receives nutrients for growth via a vast highway of blood vessels. Jian-Wej Gu, of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, believes antioxidants such as EGCG may slow the growth of breast cancer cells and suppress the growth of the blood vessels within breast cancer tumors.

The journal Life Sciences recently published a study (2008) funded by the National Cancer Institute with the National Tea Research Foundation entitled Multifunctional effect of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) in downregulation of gelatinase-A MMP-2 inhuman breast cancer cell line MCF-7i in which researchers provide a body of evidence supporting the postulate

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