Green tea extract offers new treatment for ovarian cancer
April 22, 2010 by admin
Ovarian cancer is the most serious of all gynecological cancers. Over 2500 Canadian women are diagnosed every year and every year 1,700 women succumb to this disease.
Like many cancers, ovarian cancer involves the inexplicable runaway growth of blood vessels and cells. Finding a way to slow or stop that runaway growth is something that fascinated and challenged Guelph’s Brian Krug.
After extensive review of scientific literature, Brian learned that catechin, a plant compound found in green tea, is known to inhibit cell growth and has had some positive results on other cancers.
Brian tested the effectiveness of various concentrations of catechin on rats with ovarian cancer. After careful measurements of the tumours, blood vessels and other indicators, he discovered the highest doses of catechin increased the growth of cancer cells, something which had not been seen before.
“I was very surprised to learn that high doses of catechin could have opposite effects from low doses in regards to blood vessel growth,” he says.
However he did determine that lower doses — 20 mg of catechin per kg of body weight (one fifth of the highest doses tested) — do indeed have preventative effects for ovarian cancer and could be useful in the treatment of advanced tumors.
Destined for medical research, Brian says the competition has been an excellent preparation for university and a future career in research.
