Drinking tea, particularly green tea may significantly help reduce risk of ovarian cancer, according to a study published in Cancer Epidemiology.
A. H. Lee from School of Public Health, Curtin University in Perth, WA, Australia and colleagues conducted the study and found ovarian cancer patients were less likely to drink tea, compared to those who did not have the disease.
Regularly drinking green tea, black tea and oolong tea was associated with about 70% reduced risk of ovarian cancer, compared with those who did not drink any after adjustment for confounders.
Earlier, C.S. Y ang and colleagues at Rutgers University demonstrated that green tea compound (-)- Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) has been known to promote apoptosis - programmed cell death without which cells abnormally keep growing to form cancer mass. Other teas have also been associated with
reduced risk of some cancers.
For the study, Lee and colleagues analyzed data from 500 incident cases of ovarian cancer and 500 controls with a mean age of 59 years who were recruited from four public hospitals in Guangzhou China during 206 and 2008. Dietary information was obtained through interviews and a validated and reliable questionnaire.
Compared with non-drinkers, women who drank more tea/used more dry tea leaves for more years were less likely to develop ovarian cancer.
The researchers concluded "Regular tea consumption is associated with a reduced risk of ovarian cancer for southern Chinese women."
Ovarian cancer forms in tissues of the ovary with most cases either ovarian epithelial carcinomas or malignant germ cell tumors. An estimated 22,280 American women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012 and the disease will kill 15,500 women in the same year, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.
Green tea can also help prevent weight gain or help weight loss or avoid obesity. Green tea extract or supplements are available for sale over the Internet for those who are too busy or too lazy to brew and drink tea.
