The Past and Future of Studies on Tea and Cancer Prevention

Genes and Environment

Yoshiyuki Nakamura¹ 

[1] Laboratory of Food Safety Science, Department of Life Sciences, Sugiyama Jogakuen University

关键词: tea polyphenols/catechins;    cancer prevention;    antimutagenesis;    anticarcinogenesis;    target molecules of EGCG;   

DOI  :  10.3123/jemsge.32.67

学科分类：分子生物学，细胞生物学和基因

来源: Japanese Environmental Mutagen Society / Nihon Kankyo Hen igen Gakkai

【 摘 要 】

References(52)Cited-By(1)Tea (Camellia sinensis, Theaceae) is the most popular beverage in the world. Tea preparations are classified into four types: green, black, oolong and pu-erh teas. The cancer-preventive effects of tea extracts and tea polyphenols have been demonstrated in various experimental systems of mutagenesis and carcinogenesis. Anticarcinogenic effects of tea polyphenols have been reported in the tissues/organs of skin, esophagus, stomach, colon, bladder, lung, liver, pancreas, prostate, and mammary glands of various animal models. These effects are believed to be based on green tea catechins and black tea theaflavins. Polyphenols play potential roles in reducing oxidative stress, modifying carcinogen metabolism, enhancing DNA damage repair, inhibiting tumor promotion and metastasis, and/or modulating cell-cycle arrest, apoptotic death of pre-cancerous/cancerous cells, and oncogenic signal transduction. Indeed, much evidence on the cancer preventive effects of tea polyphenols has been reported in in vitro and animal experiments. However there is insufficient and inconsistent evidence for the association between tea consumption and cancer incidence or mortality in humans. This review includes perspective on: 1) antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic effects in in vitro systems; 2) anticarcinogenic effects in animal models; 3) molecular mechanisms of anticarcinogenesis; 4) biotransformation and pharmacokinetics of tea catechin; 5) epidemiological studies; and 6) possibilities of human cancer prevention by tea polyphenols and future problems for clarification.

【 授权许可】

Unknown