Ranked
as the fifth most common cancer in the United States, bladder cancer affects
about 56,000 new patients a year.
Yet without a reliable, non-invasive way to diagnose the disease, this
type of cancer can be extremely difficult to detect; and when not discovered
early enough, the tumors can become aggressive and more than half of patients
with advanced cancers experience recurrence. Fortunately, with the help
of epidemiologic and animal studies, scientists may have found a remedy
to not only target and induce the death of cancer cells while leaving healthy
tissue alone, but also to inhibit the development of an independent blood
supply that cancers develop in order to grow and spread: Green tea extract.
The Process--Green Tea's Fight Against Cancer Cells
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Green tea extract works by affecting actin remodeling, an event that
allows cancer cells to move and invade nearby healthy tissue.
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When a human moves, the muscles and skeletal structurefunction together
to assist that movement. In order for cancer to grow and spread, the
malignant cells must be able to move; this movement depends on actin
remodeling.
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Green tea extract makes the cancer cells more mature and joins them
together more closely (a process referred to as cell adhesion).
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Both the maturity of the cells, as well as the occurrence of adhesion,
inhibits their mobility, thus hindering spreading.
Put plainly, the green tea extract may keep the cancer cells restricted
and localized making the cancer easier to treat, not to mention a better
prognosis.
However, despite these findings, scientists explain much research has yet
to be done to uncover exactly how green tea extract functions as a cancer
fighter: Scientists are conducting a clinical trial to find out whether
or not green tea extract can reduce the risk of bladder cancer recurrence
in patients with a history of smoking--a risk factor for the disease. They
also plan on analyzing the urine from bladder cancer patients in order to
learn which subset of patients would benefit most from taking green tea
extract.
Innovations-Report
February 16, 2005
