Tea time anyone?|Expert Moderated Ezine Health Articles

Green tea is widely used by women for the prevention and treatment of breast cancer. Does it work or not? What is the real evidence? Well this offers some insight. Looking at effectiveness of green tea in this area, an exhaustive and systematic review of multiple medical epidemiologic publications was performed. This included published journals and online sources. The 10 best designed studies from over 72 published ones were looked at carefully. Results from cohort studies and case-control studies (two different types of epidemiologic scientific studies) were reviewed separately. For those who want to see the statistics, here they are. The pooled relative risk (RR) of developing breast cancer for the highest levels of green tea consumption in cohort studies was 0.89 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.71-1.1; P = .28), and in case control studies, the odds ratio was 0.44 (95% CI, 0.14-1.31; P = .14). The pooled RR of cohort studies for breast cancer recurrence in all stages was 0.75 (95% CI, 0.47-1.19; P = .22). A subgroup analysis of recurrence in stage I and II disease showed a pooled RR in cohort studies of 0.56 (95%CI, 0.38-0.83; P = .004). This last analysis IS STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT!! Dose-response relationships, meaning that the more you drink the more of an effect is seen, were evident in 3 of the 7 studies. Overall, the epidemiological data indicates that consumption of 5 or more cups of green tea a day shows a non-statistically significant trend towards the prevention of breast cancer development. Statistically significant epidemiologic evidence indicates that green tea consumption may help prevent breast cancer recurrence in early stage (I and II) cancers. However, absolute conclusions are impossible to make due to the small number of studies conducted, the lack of any clinical trial evidence, the lack of a consistent dose-response relationship, and the possibility that these results are due to other factors including standard care differences. One thing is for sure, and that is that the use of green tea as a complementary natural cancer therapy in Western culture is increasing.

Reference: The Effects of Green Tea Consumption on Incidence of Breast Cancer and Recurrence of Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis :Dugald Seely, ND, MSc Cand, Edward J. Mills, DPH, MSc, Ping Wu, MBBS, MSc Cand, Shailendra Verma, MD, FRCP(C), and Gordon H. Guyatt, MD, MSc, FRCP(C) INTEGRATIVE CANCER THERAPIES 4(2); 2005 pp. 144-155

About the Author:
Dr Vasilev is a board certified gynecologic oncologist.