1. Ahmad, N., Feyes, D.K., Nieminen, A.L., Agarwal, R. and Mukhtar, H. (1997) Green tea constituent epigallocatechin-3-gallate and induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in human carcinoma cells. J. Natl. Cancer Instit. 89: 1881-1886.
Experiments with human cancer cells in culture suggest that green tea may protect against cancer by causing the cancer cells to stop multiplying and to undergo a programmed cell death.

2. Chen, Z.P., Schell, J.B., Ho, C.T., Chen, K.Y. (1998) Green tea epigallocatechin gallate shows a pronounced growth inhibitory effect on cancerous cells but not on their normal counterparts. Can.Lttr. 129: 173-179.
The cancer fighting ingredients of green tea do not harm normal cells.

3. Dreosti, I.E. (1996) Bioactive ingredients: antioxidants and polyphenols in tea. Nutrition Reviews. 54: S51-S58.
Green tea contains more polyphenols-chemicals that act as powerful antioxidants and nontoxic cancer preventive agents. It has been speculated that the low lung cancer rate in Japan-despite the high rate of smoking-is due to consumption of green tea.

4. Fujiki, H., Suganuma, M, Okabe, S., Sueoka, E., Suga, K., Imai, K. and Nakachi, K. and Kumura, S. (1999) Mechanistic findings of green tea cancer preventive for humans. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine 220: 225-228.
No adverse effects noted among volunteers who consumed 15 green tea tablets per day for six months.

5. Fujiki, H., Suganuma, M., Okabe, S., Sueoka, N., Komori, A., Sueoka, E., Kozu, T., Tada, Y., and Nakachi, K. (1998) Cancer inhibition by green tea. Mutation Res. 402: 307-310.

6. Fujiki, H., Suganuma, M., Okabe, S., Sueoka, N., Komori, A., Sueoka, E., Kozu, T., Tada, Y., and Nakachi, K. (2000) A new concept of tumor promotion by tumor necrosis factor alpha and cancer preventive agents (-)-epigallocatechin gallate and green tea. A review. Cancer Detection and Prevention 24: 91-99.
EGCg, the main constituent of Japanese green tea, and green tea itself are acknowledged preventives of cancer in Japan. This paper presents evidence of their effectiveness in both a high-risk group and the general population.

7. Jang, J.J., Cho, K.J., Lee, Y.S., and Bae, J.H. (1991) Different modifying responses of capsaicin in a wide spectrum initiation model of F344 rat. Journal of Korean Medical Science 6: 31-36.
Tumor incidence was decreased over controls when capsaicin was given to rats receiving carcinogenic agents.

8. Katdare, M., Osborne, M.P. and Telang, N.T. (1998) Inhibition of aberrant proliferation and induction of apoptosis in pre-neoplastic human mammary epithelial cells by natural phytochemicals. Oncology Reports 5: 311-315.
The polyphenolic compounds present in green tea show cancer preventive effects in animal studies.

9. McCarty, MF. (1998) Polyphenol-mediated inhibition of AP-1 transactivating activity may slow cancer growth by impeding angiogenesis and tumor invasiveness. Med Hypoth 1998; 50:511-514.
The polyphenols of green tea inhibit the formation of new blood vessels needed for tumor growth.

10. Morré, D.J., Bridge, A., Wu, L-Y., and Morré, D.M. (2000) Preferential inhibition by (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate of the cell surface NADH oxidase and growth of transformed cells in culture. Biochemical Pharmacology 60: 937-946.
Tea catechins and especially epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg, the principle tea catechin) have been shown to be potent specific inhibitors of the same tumor-associated enzyme expressed on the surface of cancer cells that are inhibited by capsaicin. These findings help explain the inhibition of the growth of cancer cell lines by tea catechins observed in laboratory studies.

11. Morré, D.J. Chueh, P.J., and Morré, D.M. (1995) Capsaicin inhibits preferentially the NADH oxidase and growth of transformed cells in culture. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92: 1831-1835. March 1995 Cell Biology.
The findings correlate capsaicin inhibition of cell surface NADH oxidase activity and inhibition of growth that correlates with capsaicin-induced programmed cell death (apoptosis).

12. Morré, D.J., Sun, E., Geilen, C., Wu, L-Y., de Cabo, R., Krasagakis, K., Orfanos, C.E., and Morré, D.M. (1998) Capsaicin inhibits plasma membrane NADH oxidase and growth of human and mouse melanoma lines. Eur. J. Cancer 32A: 1995-2003.
NADH oxidase activity was inhibited preferentially in the A-375 melanoma cells but not in the primary melanocytes by capsaicin. Death of the inhibited cells was accompanied by nuclear changes suggestive of apoptosis.

13. Nasani, I. et al. (1998) Telomerase inhibition, telomere shortening, and senescence of cancer cells by tea catechins. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 249:391-396.
Inhibition of telomerase may be one the main anticarcinogenic mechanism of tea catechins.

14. Paschka, A.G., Butler, R. and Young, C.Y.F. (1998) Induction of apoptosis in prostate cancer cell lines by the green tea component, (-)epigallocatechin gallate. Cancer Letters 130: 1-7
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among U.S. males. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in men trailing only lung cancer. Mayo Clinic researchers have identified a plant substance in green tea that is a potent killer of prostate cancer cells. Green tea not only inhibited cell growth but also produced fragmented nuclei and other signs of apoptosis or programmed cell death.

15. Sazuka M., Imazawa, H. et al. (1997) Inhibition of collangenases from mouse lung carcinoma cells by green tea catechins and black tea theaflavins. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem; 61: 1504-1506
Green tea and black tea components inhibit collangenases, an enzyme necessary for the metastatic process.

16. Sugnauma, M., Okabe S., et al. (1999) Synergistic effects of epigallocatechin gallate with eipcatechin, sunlilndac, or tamoxifen on cancer-preventive activity in the human lung cancer cell line PC-9. Cancer Res 59:44-47.
Tea catechins enhance chemotherapy agents and help to prevent recurrence and metastasis.

17. Sugiyama, T. and Sadzuka, Y. (1998) Enhancing effects of green tea components on the antitumor activity of Adriamycin against M5076 ovarian sarcoma. Cancer Letters 133:19-26.
Using green tea and Adriamycin together made Adriamycin more effective against ovarian cancer.

18. Yang, G.Y., Liao, J. et al. (1998) Inhibition of growth and induction of apoptosis in human cancer cell lines by tea polyphenols. Carcinogenesis 19:611-616.
Tea components caused cancer cells to die by inhibiting their growth.

In 1999 Congress appropriated funds for the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in collaboration with the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) to develop and establish a botanical research center initiative with major research institutions. Its purpose is to foster research to identify potential health benefits and a systematic evaluation of the safety and effectiveness of botanicals available as dietary supplements. To date four institutions have been awarded grants-in 1999, UCLA and the University of Illinois-Chicago and in 2000, Purdue University and the University of Arizona.