Clapper, Patti, Schweizer and Mason

For years doctors have been promoting the health benefits of green tea, saying that the antioxidants in it can prevent the visible signs of aging, lower cholesterol, help fight heart disease, and much more.  Now a team of researchers has discovered that a component in green tea can actually kill mesothelioma cells. 

Fresh research into novel treatments for mesothelioma has discovered that Epigallocathechin-3-gallate (EGCG) can actually stop tumor growth and even kill mesothelioma cells in a laboratory setting.  The findings come from research under way at the Dipartimento di Scienze e Innovazione Tecnologica at the University of Piemonte Orientale Amedeo Avogadro in Alessandria, Italy.  Mesothelioma researchers were familiar with Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate because it has been the subject of previous cancer research and has shown promise as a novel anti-cancer agent.  However, nobody had attempted to treat mesothelioma with the compound until recently.

Epigallocathechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is a polyphenol, a type of antioxidant, found in green tea.  It is known to inhibit cell growth in various forms of cancer.  Researchers devised an experiment to test its effect on mesothelioma and discovered EGCG is “selectively cytotoxic to [malignant mesothelioma] cells with respect to normal mesothelial cells.”  That means it will actually attack, and in some cases, kill malignant mesothelioma cells but leave regular, non-cancerous mesothelial cells alone.  This is a tremendous breakthrough as researchers are constantly trying to find selective methods of cancer treatments because “traditional” methods of attacking the disease – including chemotherapy – target healthy cells right along with the diseased ones.  This leads to debilitating side effects that are often regarded as worse than the symptoms of the actual disease.

In fact, scientists discovered that by varying the dose of EGCG they could effectively halt cell growth (at lower doses) or induce cell death (at higher doses).  The mechanism through which this occurs is a bit complicated.  The EGCG makes cells release key components and creates a hostile environment for the cells themselves.  Effectively the cancer is “poisoned” and, if the concentrations of EGCG are high enough, will die.

This line of research is similar to that currently being investigated by Korean scientists.  They have discovered that the naturally occurring phenol resveratrol can halt cancer cell growth as well, though through a different mechanism.  Both lines of research are applying elements of traditional “folk” healing to modern medicine in order to fight one of the most aggressive and least treatable forms of cancer. 

This new emphasis on “natural” modalities of cancer treatment may yet lead to promising forms of treatment for mesothelioma that are at least as effective without the harmful side effects. 

Source:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22564432

Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate Induces Mesothelioma Cell Death Via H(2) o(2)-Dependent T-Type Ca(2+) Channel Opening

Abstract

Malignant mesothelioma (MMe) is a highly aggressive, lethal tumor requiring the development of more effective therapies. The green tea polyphenol epigallocathechin-3-gallate (EGCG) inhibits the growth of many types of cancer cells. We found that EGCG is selectively cytotoxic to MMe cells with respect to normal mesothelial cells…Intriguingly, Ca(v) 3.2 expression was observed in malignant pleural mesothelioma biopsies from patients, but not in normal pleura. In conclusion, data showed the expression of T-type Ca(2+) channels in mesothelioma tissue and their role in EGCG selective cytotoxicity to malignant mesothelioma cells, suggesting the possible use of these channels as a novel MMe pharmacological target. © 2012 The Authors Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine © 2012 Foundation for Cellular and Molecular Medicine/Blackwell Publishing Ltd.