EGCG cholangiocarcinoma chemotherapy
Cholangiocarcinoma is a cancer of the cells of the bile ducts.
Bile ducts allow bile, used for digestion, to drain from the liver into the small intestine. 95% of cholangiocarcinomas are classified as adenocarcinomas.
This is a rare cancer but is increasing in frequency.
Currently an estimated 4600 new cases are expected in the United States as of 2008.
It is also known to respond poorly to chemotherapy at this time.
One study examined the use of green tea catechin antioxidants with several different human cholangiocarcinoma cancer cell lines, using both cellular and animal studies.
EGCG improves chemotherapy effectiveness
Only EGCG (epigallocatechin-gallate), the primary antioxidant from green tea, increased the response of the cholangiocarcinoma cancer cells to chemotherapeutic agents, including gemcitabine (GEM), mitomycin C, and 5-fluorouracil.
EGCG in combination with GEM was effective in increasing cancer cell death or apoptosis, mitochondrial membrane depolarization, and cytosolic cytochrome C expression.
This EGCG cholangiocarcinoma chemotherapy study showed that EGCG was also effective in decreasing the growth of cancer cells, and increasing the response to chemotherapy in an animal model (Lang M, Epigallocatechin-gallate modulates chemotherapy-induced apoptosis in human cholangiocarcinoma cells, Liver International, May 2009, p670-07).
Green tea helps protect against environmental carcinogens
An earlier study tested an animal model of cancer from environmental exposure to pentachlorophenol (PCP) and diethylnitrosamine (DEN).
When the animals drank green tea during the chemical exposure, it prevented the increase of DEN-induced hepatocellular cancerous tumors and arrested the progression of the cholangiocellular tumors (Umemura T et al, Prevention of dual promoting effects of pentachlorophenol, an environmental pollutant, on diethylnitrosamine-induced hepato- and cholangiocarcinogenesis in mice by green tea infusion. Carcinogenesis. June 2003, p1105-9).
Other studies have shown that green tea may improve chemotherapy side effects.
More research studies with free subscription to the Green Tea Health Newsletter here:
http://www.green-tea-health-news.com/EGCG-cholangiocarcinoma-chemotherapy.html
This page last updated by Sharon Jones.
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