Anticancer Activity of Green Tea Polyphenols in Prostate Gland

Abstract

Numerous evidences from prevention studies in humans, support the existence of an association between green tea polyphenols consumption and a reduced cancer risk. Prostate cancer is one of the most frequently diagnosed male neoplasia in the Western countries, which is in agreement with this gland being particularly vulnerable to oxidative stress processes, often associated with tumorigenesis. Tea polyphenols have been extensively studied in cell culture and animal models where they inhibited tumor onset and progression. Prostate cancer appears a suitable target for primary prevention care, since it grows slowly, before symptoms arise, thus offering a relatively long time period for therapeutic interventions. It is, in fact, usually diagnosed in men 50-year-old or older, when even a modest delay in progression of the disease could significantly improve the patients quality of life. Although epidemiological studies have not yet yielded conclusive results on the chemopreventive and anticancer effect of tea polyphenols, there is an increasing trend to employ these substances as conservative management for patients diagnosed with less advanced prostate cancer. Here, we intend to review the most recent observations relating tea polyphenols to human prostate cancer risk, in an attempt to outline better their potential employment for preventing prostate cancer.

Los efectos de resveratrol y otros polifenoles del vino sobre la proliferación, apoptosis y expresión de receptor androgénico en células LNCaP

“…El resveratrol, ácido tánico y gálico eran los inhibidores más exitosos del crecimiento de las células LNCaP, mientras que la quercetina, rutina y morina necesitaban concentraciones más altas y tiempos de exposición más largos para inhibir la proliferación celular. Nuestros resultados fueron consistentes con los informes disponibles en la literatura 19,20 . También se ha documentado la supresión de la proliferación celular a través de alteraciones en la división y la apoptosis 21 .…”

“…En nuestro experimento se encontró un aumento en la actividad de ambas enzimas en células LNCaP después de la exposición a los polifenoles estudiados. Este hallazgo apoya la apoptosis como un importante mecanismo de los efectos antiproliferativos inducidos por el polifenol en nuestro estudio 8,20 .…”

Phytocompounds Targeting Cancer Angiogenesis Using the Chorioallantoic Membrane Assay

“…There is an increasing trend to employ green tea extract and EGCG as conservative management for patients diagnosed with less advanced prostate cancer. Combinations of chemopreventive agents should be carefully investigated because mechanisms of action may be additive or synergistic [85]. Several clinical examinations reported different molecular mechanisms regarding green tea beneficial effects against oral cancer chemoprevention [86][87][88].…”

Naturally Occurring Substances and Their Role in Chemo-protective Effects

“…are present everywhere in the plant kingdom (green tea, berries, wine, olive oil, walnuts, coffee) (39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44). Structures of individual polyphenols are shown in Fig.…”