The American Association for Cancer Research and Clinical Cancer Research both reported that green tea may help slow the growth of human prostate cancer. In a study performed at University of Wisconsin-Madison, researchers demonstrated that low doses of the COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib, administered with a green tea polyphenol called pigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), can slow the growth of human prostate cancer. Their experiments were performed in cell cultures and in a mouse model for the disease.

“Celecoxib and green tea have a synergistic effect — each triggering cellular pathways that, combined, are more powerful than either agent alone,” said Hasan Mukhtar, Ph.D., professor of dermatology at the University of Wisconsin and member of Wisconsin’s Paul Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center. “We hope that a clinical trial could lead to a preventative treatment as simple as tea time.”

Previously, we reported about Mukhtar’s prior cancer research with regard to tea in our entry “Tea Benefits Touted by USA Today”.

MSNBC.com recently reported that green tea may ward off colon cancer.  Research, sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research, found that rats fed a diet containing green tea Polyphenon E were less than half as likely to develop colon cancer.  The other good news is that these findings were consistent with previously published reports correlating green tea consumption and lower colon cancer rates in Shanghai, China.  As a result, researchers believe the latest findings will lead to clinical trials with green tea polyphenals in humans.

In the spirit of the holiday season, drink green tea and toast to all the health benefits green tea has to offer…including digestive health!