Green tea extract may prevent prostate cancer and slow its growth during the early stages of the disease. Green tea contains powerful antioxidants called polyphenols (epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG) that prevent cancer, heart disease, and stroke. Jim Cardelli and colleagues from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport found that men with prostate cancer given capsules high in EGCG showed decreases of 9 to 19 percent in hepatocyte growth factor, vascular endothelial growth factor, and prostate-specific antigen— all important markers of the disease. In prostate cancer, levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) increase rapidly as the disease progresses. Green tea extract decreased PSA levels by 10 percent in most men with prostate cancer. Some men showed a 30 percent decrease in tumor size. Green tea extract might allow older men treated for prostate cancer to outlive the progression of their disease. In other words, they'll die from something else first. Green tea extract has been selling like hotcakes in supermarkets and health food stores across the country. Red wine and pomegranates also contain polyphenols that might reduce the progression of prostate cancer.

(Cancer Prevention Research,