green tea harmful with certain chemos?

[sarah]

A friend sent me the following message, any ideas about this?


"Although green tea is proven to be helpful for all forms of cancer I have recently heard it is contra indicated for those having one particular type of chemotherapy. Has anybody any idea which of the chemos this might be?? "

Her sister-in-law is undergoing treatment right now bot bc. thanks
Sarah

[Becky]

Green tea has powerful antioxidants in it. Too much, especially if using the supplement (versus just drinking it because you can only drink so much in a day) can be harmful to anyone. Too much equals over 10 eight ounce servings per day. I have heard it can interfer with the chemo called Velcade which is used primarily in multiple myeloma but I haven't heard about anything else. As we all have heard, during chemo our doctors or nutritionists have said not to take antioxidant supplements. Mine told me that a daily multi vitamin was okay but that's it. However, eating right and consuming tea would never be NOT okay. But you shouldn't just drink green tea and eat oranges all day either as that is not balanced. Anyway, I think you get my point on green tea. The Velcade thing was referenced in a journal (Blood I think). I think as long as your sister in law is not over doing it or using supplements, its fine to drink green tea.

[rhondalea]

Here's the Velcade link:

http://bloodjournal.hematologylibrar...nt/113/23/5927

There's a discussion about the possible downside of green tea in this thread:

http://her2support.org/vbulletin/sho...173#post258173

I think there's one more thread, but I can't find it.

[sarah]

Thanks for this info which I sent on to my friend.
sarah

[Rich66]

My sense is that viewing Green Tea and interaction solely at the level of antioxidant is incomplete. But positive and negative interactions seem to be possible:

http://her2support.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=44079

[Jackie07]

The abstract below does not answer the specific question posted by this thread. However, it contains good information ['epigentics' has been a hot topic for a while now] related to our cancer fight:

Chem Res Toxicol. 2012 Jan 13;25(1):61-73. Epub 2011 Oct 28.
Epigenetic events associated with breast cancer and their prevention by dietary components targeting the epigenome.

Khan SI, Aumsuwan P, Khan IA, Walker LA, Dasmahapatra AK.
Source

National Center for Natural Products Research, ‡Department of Pharmacognosy, and §Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi , University, Mississippi 38677, United States.

Abstract

Aberrant epigenetic alterations in the genome such as DNA methylation and chromatin remodeling play a significant role in breast cancer development. Since epigenetic alterations are considered to be more easily reversible compared to genetic changes, epigenetic therapy is potentially very useful in reversing some of these defects. Methylation of CpG islands is an important component of the epigenetic code, and a number of genes become abnormally methylated in breast cancer patients.

Currently, several epigenetic-based synthetic drugs that can reduce DNA hypermethylation and histone deacetylation are undergoing preclinical and clinical trials. However, these chemicals are generally very toxic and do not have gene specificity. Epidemiological studies have shown that Asian women are less prone to breast cancer due to their high consumption of soy food than the Caucasian women of western countries. Moreover, complementary/and or alternative medicines are commonly used by Asian populations which are rich in bioactive ingredients known to be chemopreventive against tumorigenesis in general.

Examples of such agents include dietary polyphenols, (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) from green tea, genistein from soybean, isothiocyanates from plant foods, curcumin from turmeric, resveratrol from grapes, and sulforaphane from cruciferous vegetables. These bioactive components are able to modulate epigenetic events, and their epigenetic targets are known to be associated with breast cancer prevention and therapy.

This approach could facilitate the discovery and development of novel drugs for the treatment of breast cancer. In this brief review, we will summarize the epigenetic events associated with breast cancer and the potential of some of these bioactive dietary components to modulate these events and thus afford new therapeutic or preventive approaches.