茶叶及其儿茶素类对乳腺癌的抑制作用

茶叶对人体健康有众多益处是因为它富含儿茶素类化合物。茶叶中的儿茶素类化合物有10种以上,其中含量最高的是表没食子儿茶素没食子酸酯(EGCG)。许多研究表明,以EGCG为代表的茶叶儿茶素类化合物对乳腺癌具有抑制作用,其作用包括:抑制致癌物诱导的活性氧自由基(ROS)升高及其引起的DNA损伤、降低细胞对肿瘤坏死因子的响应、阻碍雌激素与雌激素受体的结合、抑制DNA甲基化、保护线粒体免受氧化损伤、抑制肿瘤血管生成、减少癌细胞的转移和增殖、改善代谢综合征以减少抗癌药物副作用、与抗癌药物产生协同效应等。本文综述了该研究领域的进展,并讨论导致研究结果不一致的原因和未来的研究方向。

Inhibitory Effects of Tea and Tea Catechins on Breast Cancer

Tea with high catechin contents has various health benefits. There are more than ten catechins in tea, among which epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is the most abundant. The inhibitory effects of tea and its major catechin (EGCG) on breast cancer were reviewed in the present paper, which included their abilities of suppressing carcinogen-induced ROS elevation and DNA damages, decreasing the responsiveness of cells to tumor necrosis factors, blocking the binding of estrogen to estrogen receptor, inhibiting DNA methylation, protecting mitochondria from oxidative damages and inhibiting tumor angiogenesis. The anti-proliferation and anti-metastasis of cancer cells and their synergistic effects with anticancer drugs were also mentioned. The inconsistent results in previous studies and directions for future research were finally discussed.