Green Tea May Reduce Risk Of Lung Cancer

Potent Source of Powerful
Antioxidants and Phytochemicals

Smokers who did not drink green tea at all
may have a 13-fold increased risk of lung
cancer, compared with those who drank at
least one cup per day, suggests a new study
from Taiwan.

Although expert advice is clearly to avoid
tobacco smoke altogether, the results
suggest smokers could benefit from upping
their intake of Green Tea, according to
findings presented at the AACR-IASLC Joint Conference on
Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer.

One in three Europeans are smokers, while in the US the figure is
one in five. Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 compounds, of
which 60 are known carcinogens. The oxidative stress levels of
smokers are significantly greater than non-smokers, and as such
there is a bigger drain on the levels of antioxidants in the body.

The new study, a hospital-based, randomized trial, builds on earlier
research from epidemiological studies which reported potential lung
cancer risk reductions in smokers.

The benefits may also extend to non-smokers, researchers told
attendees at the conference, with non-Green Tea drinkers, both
smokers and non-smokers, associated with a 5.2-fold increased
risk of lung cancer, compared with those who drank at least one
cup of green tea per day.

At Chung Shan Medical University in Taiwan, attendees were told
that both Green Tea consumption and genotype may influence lung
cancer risk. The study involved 170 lung cancer patients and 340
healthy patients as controls. Questionnaires revealed tea drinking
habits, along with other demographic and lifestyle data. The
researchers also genotyped the participants according to their
insulin-like growth factors (IGF), all of which have all been reported
to be associated with cancer risk.

The results showed that, in addition to an increase in risk for
non-Green Tea drinkers, genetics seemed to affect the cancer risk.
Green Tea drinkers with specific types of IGF1 reported a 66 per
cent reduction in lung cancer risk as compared with Green Tea
drinkers with another form of IGF1.