Green tea plus erectile dysfunction drug may cause cancer cells to self-destruct??
 

Green tea and Vardenafil: a killer chemotherapy combo
[Eureka News Service]

Several recent studies have demonstrated that EGCG, a major constituent of green tea, has anti-cancer properties, but the molecular mechanisms underlying its effects are unknown. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Hirofumi Tachibana and colleagues at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan, demonstrate that EGCG activates the 67-kDa laminin receptor, which elevates intracellular levels of the molecule cGMP to induce cell death. Tachibana and colleagues combined EGCG with vardenafil, a drug used to treat erectile dysfunction, which blocks the activity of PDE5, a protein that degrades cGMP. In a mouse model of multiple myeloma, vardenafil potentiated the effects of EGCG to mediate cancer cell death. Chung Yan and Hong Wang of Rutgers University discuss these findings in a companion commentary.

OPEN ACCESS: 67-kDa laminin receptor increases cGMP to induce cancer-selective apoptosis
[Journal of Clinical Investigation]

The 67-kDa laminin receptor (67LR) is a laminin-binding protein overexpressed in various types of cancer, including bile duct carcinoma, colorectal carcinoma, cervical cancer, and breast carcinoma. 67LR plays a vital role in growth and metastasis of tumor cells and resistance to chemotherapy. Here, we show that 67LR functions as a cancer-specific death receptor. In this cell death receptor pathway, cGMP initiated cancer-specific cell death by activating the PKCδ/acid sphingomyelinase (PKCδ/ASM) pathway. Furthermore, upregulation of cGMP was a rate-determining process of 67LR-dependent cell death induced by the green tea polyphenol (-)-epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (EGCG), a natural ligand of 67LR. We found that phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5), a negative regulator of cGMP, was abnormally expressed in multiple cancers and attenuated 67LR-mediated cell death. Vardenafil, a PDE5 inhibitor that is used to treat erectile dysfunction, significantly potentiated the EGCG-activated 67LR-dependent apoptosis without affecting normal cells and prolonged the survival time in a mouse xenograft model. These results suggest that PDE5 inhibitors could be used to elevate cGMP levels to induce 67LR-mediated, cancer-specific cell death.

OPEN ACCESS: COMMENTARY: Cancer therapy combination: green tea and a phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor?
[Journal of Clinical Investigation]
The major constituent of green tea, (-)-epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (EGCG), has been shown to have cancer-preventive and therapeutic activities. Numerous molecular targets for EGCG have been proposed, but the mechanisms of its anticancer activities are not clearly understood. In this issue of the JCI, Kumazoe et al. report that EGCG activates 67-kDa laminin receptor (67LR), elevates cGMP levels, and induces cancer cell apoptosis. Furthermore, a phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor, vardenafil, synergizes with EGCG to induce cancer cell death. This is a provocative observation with important implications for cancer therapy. It also raises several issues for further investigation, such as the mechanism by which EGCG specifically activates 67LR.

Re: Green tea plus erectile dysfunction drug may cause cancer cells to self-destruct?
 

I knew about the green tea...interesting about the vardenafil. Gonna be tough to convince them I have ED now, too!

Hope they can get this out of mouse models into human trials soon

Re: Green tea plus erectile dysfunction drug may cause cancer cells to self-destruct?
 

Chrisy you make me laugh!

Re: Green tea plus erectile dysfunction drug may cause cancer cells to self-destruct?
 

Got a chuckle out of me as well, Chrisy. Good stuff here, Lani.

Re: Green tea plus erectile dysfunction drug may cause cancer cells to self-destruct?
 

Just check the link with the funny Insurance person, She was asking her Ins company where she could get her Mastectomy Bras and prosthesis. Someone eventually told her she did not have coverage for

"VASECTOMY BRAS AND PROSTHESIS"

(I m sorry don't remember who posted it.)
So maybe that could qualify for ED dysfunction!!!

It's kinda of scary who answers the Insurance phones and has not a clue medically wise about what they are doing!!
Darita

Re: Green tea plus erectile dysfunction drug may cause cancer cells to self-destruct?
 

Lani,
Thanks for this post.

Re: Green tea plus erectile dysfunction drug may cause cancer cells to self-destruct?
 

Thanks Lani for the post.i thought it was believed that green tea has anti inflammatory properties also?
Ellie

Re: Green tea plus erectile dysfunction drug may cause cancer cells to self-destruct?
 

Japanese Sencha green tea has one of the highest levels of EGCG, if you're looking to buy green tea. I drink at least three cups a day, spread out, and it is recommended you let it steep 8 to 10 minutes.

Re: Green tea plus erectile dysfunction drug may cause cancer cells to self-destruct?
 

So now our poor husbands have to swallow their pride, go to the doctor and complain of ED in order to get us the drugs! Then they have to make us endless cups of green tea and on top of that, we no longer have something that we used to know as libido. We must be married to saints!

Jacqueline

Re: Green tea plus erectile dysfunction drug may cause cancer cells to self-destruct?
 

Viagra is prescribed for some types of SD in women so we'll be able to do the walk of shame to the Dr. ourselves soon. By the way, after 4-insurance reps and a supervisor I finally got my referral for my mastectomy bra (vs. vasectomy bra)! Had to spell the word for every person, even the supervisor!
-Julie