Green Tea's Lung Cancer Fighting Ability May
be Tied to Specific Genetics
Participants: 244 people, half with lung
cancer, half without
Type of study: Case-control
Study methods: 122 people with lung cancer were
matched with 122 similar people who did not have the cancer. The volunteers' health
and habits were scrutinized, looking for differences that might explain why some
had developed the cancer while others did not.
What happened: The researchers found that
drinking green tea led to a reduction in the risk of developing lung cancer - but
the reduction was not large enough to be statistically significant.
However, when the researchers looked closely at
certain genetic differences among the volunteers, they found that drinking green
tea was extremely protective against lung cancer in those with a certain gene.
Specifically, those with the genetic component OGGI
Cys(326) who drank green daily were found to have a 72% lower risk of developing lung cancer
than those who drank no green tea. This may be because this gene renders a person
more susceptible to oxidative stress and oxidative DNA damage, making green
tea's antioxidant effects particularly helpful.
The presence or absence of the OGGI Cys(326) gene may be one reason why results of
epidemiologic studies of green tea and lung cancer have been mixed. Obviously,
if the volunteer group has a low proportion of people with the OGGI Cys(326)
gene, the results will be less positive, and vice versa. Researchers
may want to differentiate between those who do and those who don't have the gene in
future studies.
Researchers' conclusion: Green tea may be able
to protect against lung cancer in people who have a genetic makeup that makes
them "particularly susceptible to
oxidative stress and oxidative DNA damage."
Citation: Bonner MR, Rothman N, Mumford JL, et
al. Green tea consumption, genetic susceptibility, PAH-rich smoky coal, and the
risk of lung cancer. Mutation Research 2005;582(1-2):53-60. (Click here to read PubMed study
abstract.)
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Nadine Taylor, M.S., R.D. presents
GreenTeaLibrary.com, the most comprehensive collection of scientific
information describing the health benefits of green tea.
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