Mayo Clinic finds green tea extract fights leukemia

In an article appearing online on May 26, 2009 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Mayo Clinic researchers report positive effects for a green tea compound known as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) in a phase I trial involving patients with early stage chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Chronic lymphocytic leukemia, the most common subtype of leukemia in the United States, is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow that is characterized by abnormal proliferation of white blood cells known as lymphocytes. Half of the patients with early stage CLL have an aggressive form of the disease which increases the risk of early mortality.

Acting on preliminary findings that included a significant effect of EGCG against leukemia cells in cell cultures as well as in some CLL patients who used over the counter green tea supplements, Mayo Clinic hematologist Tait Shanafelt, MD and colleagues administered 8 doses varying from 400 to 2000 milligrams twice per day of an extract containing EGCG as its active ingredient to 33 CLL patients. Continue Reading