Green Tea Not Effective for Prostate Cancer

ROCHESTER, Minn.--A study conducted by the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center and North Central Cancer Treatment Group indicated green tea may not benefit sufferers of advanced androgen-independent prostate cancer--a group with few treatment options, according to researchers. The phase II study was the first to test the effects of green tea in patients with this type of cancer; results of the study will be published in the March 15 issue of Cancer.

"Previous laboratory studies suggested that green tea might be an effective anticancer treatment," said Aminah Jatoi, M.D., the study's lead researcher, in a Mayo Clinic press release. "However, in our study of 42 patients with advanced androgen-independent prostate cancer, only one patient showed a short-term drop in his prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels."

The study had patients take 6 g/d of a highly concentrated, pre-sweetened tea either hot, iced, in juice or with additional sweetener. The study's authors found many patients dropped out of the study after approximately a month either because their prostate cancer was not regressing or because of the side effects from the high-dose green tea, including diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, as well as insomnia, diarrhea and confusion.

The one patient who did experience improvement had his PSA levels rebound by the second month.

"Green tea failed to show an anticancer effect in the group of patients we studied," Jatoi said. "We concluded that other avenues should be explored in the treatment of patients with androgen-independent prostate cancer."