Pros and Cons of Green Tea for Patients with prostate cancer

Posted by OUMike @oumike, May 4, 2019

Hello. I am new to Connect. I have prostate cancer (aggressive) and just completed radiation at Mayo Clinic-Rochester. I hear some vague positive comments that green tea can have for those with prostate cancer and very positive comments for those not yet diagnosed with prostate cancer. Anyone with prostate cancer and have experience with green tea care to make comments or aware of studies done or in process? Thanks.

OUMike

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Prostate Cancer Support Group.

Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | May 4, 2019

Welcome, @oumike
Researchers have been looking into the effectiveness of green tea in reducing risk of prostate cancer and its possible anti-cancer effects. Here are a couple of recent studies:
- Green tea and the risk of prostate cancer (2017) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5380255/
- Anti-Cancer Effects of Green Tea Polyphenols Against Prostate Cancer (2019) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6337309/

I also like this plain language interpretation by the NHS of the 2009 study
- Green tea for prostate cancer https://www.nhs.uk/news/cancer/green-tea-for-prostate-cancer/
https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-in-general/treatment/complementary-alternative-therapies/individual-therapies/green-tea

I'd like to also bring @kujhawk1978 @donnelson @9876 @sleepy0 @403211th @peekaafighter @waynen and @norske46 into this conversation.

Mike, have you asked your cancer team about the possible benefits of green tea? You might want to check in case there are possible treatment interactions. Are you taking any treatment beyond radiation?

kujhawk1978 | @kujhawk1978 | May 5, 2019

So, a quick search will yield a number of studies about green tea and its affects. For me, I am unconvinced that anything specific in one’s diet will make a difference. What I do believe is eating healthy, exercising, attitude and maintaining your general health through these things plus regular checkups with your General Practicioner can make a difference in the quality and length of your life when you have cancer.

I have an appointment with my GP on Wednesday, she will order CBC, metabolic panel, fasting glucose, lipid panel to check a number of things. She has in the past had me do colonoscopies, calcium screenings and cardio stress tests to check for cardio vascular disease.

So, green tea can be part of a healthy diet which can be a factor in your quality and length of life, does it affect your PCa, I am not convinced.