Abstract

Many epidemiological studies and a large number of experimental studies using a variety of animal models have observed that consumption or administration of green tea appears to exert cancer chemopreventive activity. Based on the results of numerous laboratory cell culture investigations, several mechanisms have been hypothesized to underlie the anti-cancer activity of green tea catechins, especially that of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the most abundant and active constituent in green tea. These mechanisms include promotion of anti-oxidant activity, inhibition of NF-κB and AP-1, regulation of the cell cycle, inhibition of receptor tyrosine kinase pathways, control of epigenetic modifications, and modulation of the immune system. Several recent interventional studies examining the anti-carcinogenic properties of green tea catechins in humans have yielded promising results that suggest the possibility of their application to human clinical trials. This review article analyzes the results of these studies to explicate the effects of consumption or administration of green tea and its constituents on malignancies observed to date and discuss future directions in this research field.

Keywords: Cancer chemoprevention, green tea catechins, receptor tyrosine kinases