An antioxidant in green tea could help fight off cancer—and even help protect us from ever getting the disease.
The antioxidant, EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate), increases our levels of a natural anti-cancer protein known as p53, which helps repair DNA damage, a precursor of cancer, and destroys cancerous cells.
Around half of all cancer patients have p53 mutations, a protein that researchers at the Rensselaer Center for Biotechnology have described as “arguably the most important protein in human cancer”. It stops cells growing, activates DNA repair and initiates cell death, known as apoptosis. All three biological processes are involved in the start and spread of cancer.
The researchers have discovered a direct interaction between the green tea compound and the protein. EGCG stops the protein from degrading, they say.
Green tea is rich in the compound and it’s also available in nutritional supplements.
(Source: Nature Communications, 2021; 12: doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-21258-5)
