Cervical Cancer kills thousands worldwide every year. HPV is a leading cause of cervical cancer. Researchers have discovered that chemicals in green tea are able to suppress the growth of HPV-caused cervical cancer cells.
Mar 09, 2011 – The latest statistics of the World Health Organization (WHO) suggest that over 288,000 women die every year from cervical cancer. This disease is a rare find in developed nations but has its foot hold in various developing nations. Although it is fairly rare in the United States, in the year 2007 in the U.S., 12,280 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer and 4,021 women died from it.
Cervical cancer is caused due to infection from Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and it develops when cells in the cervix begin to grow out of control. These can then attack nearby tissues or can spread all the way through the body. Large collections of these unusually growing cells are called tumours. But cancer is not caused by all tumours. It is caused only by those tumours that attack close by tissues or can multiply throughout the body to form malignant tumours.
Although an enhanced awareness has been noticed among the masses regarding the severity of cervical cancer but very little is known of its prevention at early stages.
A recent study on the compounds of green tea and their effect on cervical cancer cells have resulted in a ground breaking discovery in the field of chemoprevention of cervical cancer. The study was observed over two green tea compounds, namely Polyphenols E and Epigallocatechin Gallate, with a careful examination of their effect on malignant tumours. The results of the study revealed that both these compounds of green tea repressed the growth of the HPV-immortalized cancer cells. Thus, the potential capability of green tea compounds to suppress the growth of HPV-related cervical cells was shown.
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