effect of green tea and Ganoderma lucidum on (met) breast cancer cells

[Rich66]

Int J Oncol. 2007 Apr;30(4):963-9. Links

Combined effect of green tea and Ganoderma lucidum on invasive behavior of breast cancer cells.

Thyagarajan A, Zhu J, Sliva D.
Cancer Research Laboratory, Methodist Research Institute, E504, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
Epidemiological studies have suggested that consumption of green tea may decrease the risk of a variety of cancers. In addition, mushroom Ganoderma lucidum has been used for the promotion of health, longevity and treatment of cancer in traditional Chinese medicine. In the present study we show that extract from green tea (GTE) increased the anticancer effect of G. lucidum extract (GLE) on cell proliferation (anchorage-dependent growth) as well as colony formation (anchorage-independent growth) of breast cancer cells. This effect was mediated by the down-regulation of expression of oncogene c-myc in MDA-MB-231 cells. Although individual GTE and GLE independently inhibited adhesion, migration and invasion of MDA-MB-231 cells, their combination demonstrated a synergistic effect, which was mediated by the suppression of secretion of urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) from breast cancer cells. Our study suggests the potential use of combined green tea and G. lucidum extracts for the suppression of growth and invasiveness of metastatic breast cancers.

[Jackie07]

I was given home-made Ganoderma lucidum (Lin Chih [miracle mushroom]) soup after my first breast cancer surgery. Two sisters of my church lost their mother not long before my cancer diagnosis. They had taken their mother to MD Anderson after the doctor at our local hospital gave her 3 months to live for end stage lung cancer. She started taking Ganoderma lucidum and undergoing treatment at MD Anderson and lived another 3 years.

I continued to take the capsule form (found a supplier in New york city) and feels it has some effect similar to mild laxative which in Chinese medicine means to 'get rid of the poison in the body'. I remember clearly how I started to have appetite right after I drank the Ling-chih soup after I had my lumpectomy in 2003.

Both of my parents (93 and 85 respectively) drinks green tea every day (my Mother also drinks aother kind of Chinese mixed herb tea that has christhesmum in it which she purchases from Chinese herb medicine store. These are all original material (the dry flower actually 'blooms' in the water)that expands after mixed with boiling water.

I would really love to drink green tea to get the benefit, but my brain is too sensitive to caffein. My oldest sister sent me a recipe and the ingredience of "Yang-shen tang" (cultivating life soup) and it had helped me to maintain a good weight (I tend to be underweight most of the time) by getting hydrated and having good appetite.

Knowing the result of this study, I guess I need to start drink green tea (in the morning) to get the benefit.