Introduction
A recent study could pave the way for a new and
novel treatment for oral cancer and other neo-plastic disorders that afflict
the mankind. This was disclosed by a group of food scientists from Pennsylvania
State University. They have found out that green tea content may activate a
natural procedure that kills oral cancer cells. This procedure is so specific
that it leaves other normal cells intact.
Green Tea Ingredient
In the past, many studies were conducted on the
green tea properties that make the beverage so popular among the
health-conscious people across the world. Such studies revealed that a compound
known as epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is found in the green tea. This
active ingredient was found to carry a property to destroy oral cancer cells,
leaving alone the healthy oral cells. The new study worked along the same path
to find the underlying process that causes the death of cancer cells
selectively. After a period of research,
they were able to find the process that causes cell death.
Mechanism of Action
EGCG seems to damage the mitochondria of the cancer
cells by some unknown action. This
mitochondrial damage in turn sets up a vicious cycle causing more damage to the
cell interiors, affecting other organelles in it. This triggers the cell to
undergo programmed cell death. This mechanism of action was described by Joshua
Lambert who is an associate professor of food science and co-director of Penn
State’s Centre for Plant and Mushroom Foods for Health. The researchers have
been able to peek into the causative agents for the damage. From whatever
technical data they could lay hands on, they speculate that the said compound
EGCG might be generating oxygen free radicals in cancer cells, which in turn
damages the lipid bi-layers of mitochondria. When the lipid undergoes change,
it generates more reactive oxygen species, giving more fodder for the
intra-cellular damage. With this continual mitochondrial death, the cancer cell
also decreases the expression of anti-oxidant genes, thus lowering its defences.
