Green Tea Catechins: A Promising Anticancer Approach for Leukaemia

Abstract

Green tea catechins are bioactive polyphenolic compounds that possess a number of biological activities and potential health benefits. This review will focus on discussing the effects of green tea catechins, with a particular emphasis on clinical studies that evaluate their anticancer potential. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), either as a stand-alone treatment or in conjunction with conventional anticancer therapies, represents a promising alternative strategy for the management of leukaemia. This review was based on a search of the scientific sources indexed in the databases PubMed and Scopus using the following keywords: ‘Camellia sinensis’, ‘tea catechins’, ‘anticancer’, ‘antioxidant’, ‘hematological cancer’, and ‘leukaemia’ in combination. A deeper comprehension of the multifaceted mechanisms and findings of research could facilitate the development of novel strategies and the integration of green tea catechins into clinical practice, thus enhancing treatment outcomes for patients with leukaemia.

Keywords

antioxidants - Camellia sinensis - Camelliaceae - catechin - epigallocatechin gallate - leukaemia

Publikationsverlauf

Eingereicht: 09. Oktober 2024

Angenommen: 27. Januar 2025

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
18. Februar 2025

• References

• 1 Yin W, Wang J, Jiang L, James Kang Y. Cancer and stem cells. Exp Biol Med (Maywood) 2021; 246: 1791-1801
• 2 Murata M. Inflammation and cancer. Environ Health Prev Med 2018; 23: 50
• 3 Desai K, Baralo B, Kulkarni A, Keshava VE, Iqbal S, Ali H, Prabhakaran SY, Thirumaran R. Cancer statistics: The United States vs. worldwide. J Clin Oncol 2024; 42: e23276-e23276
• 4 Bray F, Laversanne M, Sung H, Ferlay J, Siegel RL, Soerjomataram I, Jemal A. Global cancer statistics 2022: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin 2024; 74: 229-263
• 5 Bray F, Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Siegel RL, Torre LA, Jemal A. Global cancer statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin 2018; 68: 394-424
• 6 Sung H, Ferlay J, Siegel RL, Laversanne M, Soerjomataram I, Jemal A, Bray F. Global Cancer Statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN Estimates of Incidence and Mortality Worldwide for 36 Cancers in 185 Countries. CA Cancer J Clin 2021; 71: 209-249
• 7 Hilal B, Khan MM, Fariduddin Q. Recent advancements in deciphering the therapeutic properties of plant secondary metabolites: phenolics, terpenes, and alkaloids. Plant Physiol Biochem 2024; 211: 108674
• 8 Batista JL, Birmann BM, Epstein MM. Epidemiology of Hematologic Malignancies. In: Loda M, Mucci LA, Mittelstadt ML, Van Hemelrijck M, Cotter MB, editors Pathology and Epidemiology of Cancer. Cham: Springer International Publishing; 2017: 543-569
• 9 Li XX, Liu C, Dong SL, Ou CS, Lu JL, Ye JH, Liang YR, Zheng XQ. Anticarcinogenic potentials of tea catechins. Front Nutr 2022; 9: 1060783
• 10 Sun S, Liu Z, Lin M, Gao N, Wang X. Polyphenols in health and food processing: antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant insights. Front Nutr 2024; 11: 1456730
• 11 Yang M, He Y, Ni Q, Zhou M, Chen H, Li G, Yu J, Wu X, Zhang X. Polyphenolic nanomedicine regulating mitochondria REDOX for innovative cancer treatment. Pharmaceutics 2024; 16: 972
• 12 Grabarczyk M, Justyńska W, Czpakowska J, Smolińska E, Bielenin A, Glabinski A, Szpakowski P. Role of plant phytochemicals: Resveratrol, curcumin, luteolin and quercetin in demyelination, neurodegeneration, and epilepsy. Antioxidants 2024; 13: 1364
• 13 Scarpa ES, Antonelli A, Balercia G, Sabatelli S, Maggi F, Caprioli G, Giacchetti G, Micucci M. Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, and pro-osteogenic activities of polyphenols for the treatment of two different chronic diseases: Type 2 diabetes mellitus and osteoporosis. Biomolecules 2024; 14: 836
• 14 Dwyer J, Picciano MF, Raiten DJ. Food and dietary supplement databases for what we eat in America–NHANES. J Nutr 2003; 133: 624S-634S
• 15 Barnes PM, Bloom B, Nahin RL. Complementary and alternative medicine use among adults and children: United States, 2007. Natl Health Stat Report 2008; 12: 1-23
• 16 Jiang TA. Health benefits of culinary herbs and spices. J AOAC Int 2019; 102: 395-411
• 17 Tan J, Zhang S, Jiang Y, Li J, Yang C. Plant-based diet and risk of all-cause mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Nutr 2024; 11: 1481363
• 18 Vega-Cabello V, Al Hinai M, Yévenes-Briones H, Caballero FF, Lopez-García E, Baylin A. Plant-based diets and risk of multimorbidity: The health and retirement study. J Nutr 2024; 154: 2264-2272
• 19 Kim H, Rebholz CM. Plant-based diets for kidney disease prevention and treatment. Curr Opin Nephrol Hypertens 2024; 33: 593-602
• 20 Zhang M, Zhao X, Zhang X, Holman CDJ. Possible protective effect of green tea intake on risk of adult leukaemia. Br J Cancer 2008; 98: 168-170
• 21 Kuo YC, Yu CL, Liu CY, Wang SF, Pan PC, Wu MT, Ho CK, Lo YS, Li Y, Christiani DC. Kaohsiung Leukemia Research Group. A population-based, case-control study of green tea consumption and leukemia risk in southwestern Taiwan. Cancer Causes Control 2009; 20: 57-65
• 22 Hayat K, Iqbal H, Malik U, Bilal U, Mushtaq S. Tea and its consumption: Benefits and risks. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 2015; 55: 939-954
• 23 Musial C, Kuban-Jankowska A, Gorska-Ponikowska M. Beneficial properties of green tea catechins. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21: 1744
• 24 Li D, Cao D, Sun Y, Cui Y, Zhang Y, Jiang J, Cao X. The roles of epigallocatechin gallate in the tumor microenvironment, metabolic reprogramming, and immunotherapy. Front Immunol 2024; 15: 1331641
• 25 Alam M, Ali S, Ashraf GM, Bilgrami AL, Yadav DK, Hassan MI. Epigallocatechin 3-gallate: From green tea to cancer therapeutics. Food Chem 2022; 379: 132135
• 26 Gasmi A, Mujawdiya PK, Noor S, Lysiuk R, Darmohray R, Piscopo S, Lenchyk L, Antonyak H, Dehtiarova K, Shanaida M, Polishchuk A, Shanaida V, Peana M, Bjørklund G. Polyphenols in metabolic diseases. Molecules 2022; 27: 6280
• 27 Niu L, Li Z, Fan W, Zhong X, Peng M, Liu Z. Nano-strategies for enhancing the bioavailability of tea polyphenols: Preparation, applications, and challenges. Foods 2022; 11: 387
• 28 Lu X, Saeed MEM, Hegazy MF, Kampf CJ, Efferth T. Chemopreventive property of sencha tea extracts towards sensitive and multidrug-resistant leukemia and multiple myeloma cells. Biomolecules 2020; 10: 1000
• 29 Kochman J, Jakubczyk K, Antoniewicz J, Mruk H, Janda K. Health benefits and chemical composition of matcha green tea: A review. Molecules 2020; 26: 85
• 30 Zhang C, Suen CLC, Yang C, Quek SY. Antioxidant capacity and major polyphenol composition of teas as affected by geographical location, plantation elevation and leaf grade. Food Chem 2018; 244: 109-119
• 31 Hidese S, Ogawa S, Ota M, Ishida I, Yasukawa Z, Ozeki M, Kunugi H. Effects of L-theanine administration on stress-related symptoms and cognitive functions in healthy adults: A randomized controlled trial. Nutrients 2019; 11: 2362
• 32 Shkayeva MV, Gregory PJ, Pickering MK, Hein DJ, Hu J, Rodriguez A. Green tea product epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) content and label information: A descriptive analysis. J Nutr Ther 2015; 4: 81-84
• 33 Nuryana I, Ratnakomala S, Fahrurrozi F, Juanssilfero AB, Andriani A, Putra FJN, Rezamela E, Wulansari R, Atmaja MIP, Lisdiyanti P. Catechin contents, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of different types of indonesian tea (Camellia sinensis). Ann Bogor 2020; 24: 106-113 https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Isa-Nuryana/publication/348264057_Catechin_Contents_Antioxidant_and_Antibacterial_Activities_of_Different_Types_of_Indonesian_Tea_Camellia_sinensis
• 34 Koch W, Kukula-Koch W, Komsta Ł, Marzec Z, Szwerc W, Głowniak K. Green Tea quality evaluation based on its catechins and metals composition in combination with chemometric analysis. Molecules 2018; 23: 1689
• 35 Della Via FI, Alvarez MC, Basting RT, Saad STO. The effects of green tea catechins in hematological malignancies. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2023; 16: 1021
• 36 Li F, Qasim S, Li D, Dou QP. Updated review on green tea polyphenol epigallocatechin-3-gallate as a cancer epigenetic regulator. Semin Cancer Biol 2022; 83: 335-352
• 37 Farhan M. Green tea catechins: Natureʼs way of preventing and treating cancer. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23: 10713
• 38 Imai K, Suga K, Nakachi K. Cancer-preventive effects of drinking green tea among a Japanese population. Prev Med (Baltim) 1997; 26: 769-775
• 39 Della Via FI, Shiraishi RN, Santos I, Ferro KP, Salazar-Terreros MJ, Franchi Junior GC, Rego EM, Saad STO, Torello CO. (−)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate induces apoptosis and differentiation in leukaemia by targeting reactive oxygen species and PIN1. Sci Rep 2021; 11: 9103
• 40 Yang CS, Zhang J. Studies on the prevention of cancer and cardiometabolic diseases by tea: Issues on mechanisms, effective doses, and toxicities. J Agric Food Chem 2019; 67: 5446-5456
• 41 Cardoso RR, Neto RO, Dos Santos DʼAlmeida CT, do Nascimento TP, Pressete CG, Azevedo L, Martino HSD, Cameron LC, Ferreira MSL, Barros FAR. Kombuchas from green and black teas have different phenolic profile, which impacts their antioxidant capacities, antibacterial and antiproliferative activities. Food Res Int 2020; 128: 108782
• 42 Tsai CY, Chen CY, Chiou YH, Shyu HW, Lin KH, Chou MC, Huang MH, Wang YF. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate suppresses human herpesvirus 8 replication and induces ROS leading to apoptosis and autophagy in primary effusion lymphoma cells. Int J Mol Sci 2017; 19: 16
• 43 Fan FY, Sang LX, Jiang M. Catechins and their therapeutic benefits to inflammatory bowel disease. Molecules 2017; 22: 484
• 44 Oh JW, Muthu M, Pushparaj SSC, Gopal J. Anticancer therapeutic effects of Green Tea Catechins (GTCs) when integrated with antioxidant natural components. Molecules 2023; 28: 2151
• 45 Cheng AW, Tan X, Sun JY, Gu CM, Liu C, Guo X. Catechin attenuates TNF-α induced inflammatory response via AMPK-SIRT1 pathway in 3 T3-L1 adipocytes. PLoS One 2019; 14: e0217090
• 46 Sun W, Wong ILK, Law HKW, Su X, Chan TCF, Sun G, Yang X, Wang X, Chan TH, Wan S, Chow LMC. In vivo reversal of P-glycoprotein-mediated drug resistance in a breast cancer xenograft and in leukemia models using a novel, potent, and nontoxic epicatechin EC31. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24: 4377
• 47 Talebi M, Talebi M, Farkhondeh T, Mishra G, İlgün S, Samarghandian S. New insights into the role of the Nrf2 signaling pathway in green tea catechin applications. Phytother Res 2021; 35: 3078-3112
• 48 Hodges JK, Sasaki GY, Bruno RS. Anti-inflammatory activities of green tea catechins along the gut–liver axis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: lessons learned from preclinical and human studies. J Nutr Biochem 2020; 85: 108478
• 49 Hossen I, Kaiqi Z, Hua W, Junsong X, Mingquan H, Yanping C. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) inhibits lipopolysaccharide‐induced inflammation in RAW264.7 macrophage cells via modulating nuclear factor kappa‐light‐chain enhancer of activated B cells (NF‐κB) signaling pathway. Food Sci Nutr 2023; 11: 4634-4650
• 50 Suhail M, Rehan M, Tarique M, Tabrez S, Husain A, Zughaibi TA. Targeting a transcription factor NF-κB by green tea catechins using in silico and in vitro studies in pancreatic cancer. Front Nutr 2023; 9: 1078642
• 51 Alaswad HA, Mahbub AA, Le Maitre CL, Jordan-Mahy N. Molecular action of polyphenols in leukaemia and their therapeutic potential. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22: 3085
• 52 Mendez-Hernandez A, Moturi K, Hanson V, Andritsos LA. Hairy cell leukemia: Where are we in 2023?. Curr Oncol Rep 2023; 25: 833-840
• 53 Cotoraci C, Ciceu A, Sasu A, Miutescu E, Hermenean A. The anti-leukemic activity of natural compounds. Molecules 2021; 26: 2709
• 54 Shanafelt TD. Green Tea Extract in Treating Patients With Stage 0, Stage I, or Stage II Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. Accessed April 10, 2024 at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT00262743?cond=Leukemia&term=green%2520tea&rank=1
• 55 Shanafelt TD, Call TG, Zent CS, LaPlant B, Bowen DA, Roos M, Secreto CR, Ghosh AK, Kabat BF, Lee MJ, Yang CS, Jelinek DF, Erlichman C, Kay NE. Phase I trial of daily oral polyphenon E in patients with asymptomatic Rai stage 0 to II chronic lymphocytic leukemia. J Clin Oncol 2009; 27: 3808-3814
• 56 Shanafelt TD, Call TG, Zent CS, Leis JF, LaPlant B, Bowen DA, Roos M, Laumann K, Ghosh AK, Lesnick C, Lee M, Yang CS, Jelinek DF, Erlichman C, Kay NE. Phase 2 trial of daily, oral polyphenon E in patients with asymptomatic, Rai stage 0 to II chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Cancer 2013; 119: 363-370
• 57 Chen A, Jiang P, Zeb F, Wu X, Xu C, Chen L, Feng Q. EGCG regulates CTR1 expression through its pro-oxidative property in non-small-cell lung cancer cells. J Cell Physiol 2020; 235: 7970-7981
• 58 Amin ARMR, Khuri FR, Chen ZG, Shin DM. Synergistic growth inhibition of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck by erlotinib and epigallocatechin-3-gallate: the role of p 53-dependent inhibition of nuclear factor-kappaB. Cancer Prev Res (Phila) 2009; 2: 538-545
• 59 Wang YN, Wang J, Yang HN, Zhang BL, Zhang P, Sun PY, Zhang N, Wang Y, Sheng J, Wang XJ, Zi CT. The oxidation of (−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate inhibits T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell line HPB-ALL via the regulation of Notch1 expression. RSC Adv 2020; 10: 1679-1684
• 60 Wang P, Henning SM, Heber D, Vadgama JV. Sensitization to docetaxel in prostate cancer cells by green tea and quercetin. J Nutr Biochem 2015; 26: 408-415
• 61 Tóth E, Erdődi F, Kiss A. Activation of myosin phosphatase by epigallocatechin-gallate sensitizes THP-1 leukemic cells to daunorubicin. Anticancer Agents Med Chem 2021; 21: 1092-1098
• 62 Lin LC, Wang MN, Tsai TH. Food-drug interaction of (−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate on the pharmacokinetics of irinotecan and the metabolite SN-38. Chem Biol Interact 2008; 174: 177-182
• 63 Bae KH, Lai F, Chen Q, Kurisawa M. Potentiating gilteritinib efficacy using nanocomplexation with a hyaluronic acid–epigallocatechin gallate conjugate. Polymers (Basel) 2024; 16: 225
• 64 Navarro-Hortal MD, Varela-López A, Romero-Márquez JM, Rivas-García L, Speranza L, Battino M, Quiles JL. Role of flavonoids against adriamycin toxicity. Food Chem Toxicol 2020; 146: 111820
• 65 Li H, Krstin S, Wink M. Modulation of multidrug resistant in cancer cells by EGCG, tannic acid and curcumin. Phytomedicine 2018; 50: 213-222
• 66 Ghasemi-Pirbaluti M, Pourgheysari B, Shirzad H, Sourani Z, Beshkar P. The inhibitory effect of epigallocatechin gallate on the viability of T lymphoblastic leukemia cells is associated with increase of caspase-3 Level and Fas expression. Indian J Hematol Blood Transfus 2018; 34: 253-260
• 67 Duy C, Béguelin W, Melnick A. Epigenetic mechanisms in leukemias and lymphomas. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med 2020; 10: a034959
• 68 Shen L, Kantarjian H, Guo Y, Lin E, Shan J, Huang X, Berry D, Ahmed S, Zhu W, Pierce S, Kondo Y, Oki Y, Jelinek J, Saba H, Estey E, Issa JPJ. DNA methylation predicts survival and response to therapy in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes. J Clin Oncol 2010; 28: 605-613
• 69 Moradzadeh M, Roustazadeh A, Tabarraei A, Erfanian S, Sahebkar A. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate enhances differentiation of acute promyelocytic leukemia cells via inhibition of PML-RARα and HDAC1. Phytother Res 2018; 32: 471-479
• 70 Bange E, Timlin C, Kabel C, Svoboda J, Roeker L, Mato AR. Evidence for and against green tea and turmeric in the management of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Clin Lymphoma Myeloma Leuk 2018; 18: e421-e426
• 71 Bied M, Ho WW, Ginhoux F, Blériot C. Roles of macrophages in tumor development: A spatiotemporal perspective. Cell Mol Immunol 2023; 20: 983-992
• 72 Li C, Kuemmerle J. Phenotypic alterations of macrophage contributes to extracellular matrix deposition in cultured macrophage RAW 264.7. Inflamm Bowel Dis 2021; 27 (Suppl. 1) S36
• 73 Calgarotto AK, Longhini AL, Pericole de Souza FV, Duarte ASS, Ferro KP, Santos I, Maso V, Olalla Saad ST, Torello CO. Immunomodulatory effect of green tea treatment in combination with low-dose chemotherapy in elderly acute myeloid leukemia patients with myelodysplasia-related changes. Integr Cancer Ther 2021; 20
• 74 DiNardo CD, Erba HP, Freeman SD, Wei AH. Acute myeloid leukaemia. Lancet 2023; 401: 2073-2086
• 75 Iweala EJ, Oluwapelumi AE, Dania OE, Ugbogu EA. Bioactive phytoconstituents and their therapeutic potentials in the treatment of haematological cancers: A review. Life (Basel) 2023; 13: 1422
• 76 Bae KH, Lai F, Mong J, Niibori-Nambu A, Chan KH, Her Z, Osato M, Tan MH, Chen Q, Kurisawa M. Bone marrow-targetable green tea catechin-based micellar nanocomplex for synergistic therapy of acute myeloid leukemia. J Nanobiotechnology 2022; 20: 481
• 77 Yu JH, Im CY, Min SH. Function of PIN1 in cancer development and its inhibitors as cancer therapeutics. Front Cell Dev Biol 2020; 8: 120
• 78 Torello CO, Shiraishi RN, Della Via FI, Castro TCL, Longhini AL, Santos I, Bombeiro AL, Silva CLA, Queiroz MLS, Rego EM, Saad STO. Reactive oxygen species production triggers green tea-induced anti-leukaemic effects on acute promyelocytic leukaemia model. Cancer Lett 2018; 414: 116-126
• 79 Xiao X, Jiang K, Xu Y, Peng H, Wang Z, Liu S, Zhang G. (−)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate induces cell apoptosis in chronic myeloid leukaemia by regulating Bcr/Abl-mediated p 38-MAPK/JNK and JAK2/STAT3/AKT signalling pathways. Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol 2019; 46: 126-136
• 80 Puckett Y, Chan O. Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459149
• 81 Hallek M, Al-Sawaf O. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia: 2022 update on diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Am J Hematol 2021; 96: 1679-1705
• 82 Cornwall S, Cull G, Joske D, Ghassemifar R. Green tea polyphenol “epigallocatechin-3-gallate”, differentially induces apoptosis in CLL B-and T-Cells but not in healthy B-and T-Cells in a dose dependant manner. Leuk Res 2016; 51: 56-61
• 83 Younes M, Aggett P, Aguilar F, Crebelli R, Dusemund B, Filipič M, Frutos MJ, Galtier P, Gott D, Gundert-Remy U, Lambré C, Leblanc J, Lillegaard IT, Moldeus P, Mortensen A, Oskarsson A, Stankovic I, Waalkens-Berendsen I, Woutersen RA, Andrade RJ, Fortes C, Mosesso P, Restani P, Arcella D, Pizzo F, Smeraldi C, Wright M. Scientific opinion on the safety of green tea catechins. EFSA J 2018; 16: 5239
• 84 Bedrood Z, Rameshrad M, Hosseinzadeh H. Toxicological effects of Camellia sinensis (green tea): A review. Phytother Res 2018; 32: 1163-1180
• 85 Khaleel AK, Shaari RB, Nawi MAA, Al-Yassiri AMH. Adverse effects of green tea on public health the untold whole medical story. Syst Rev Pharm 2020; 11: 883-887 https://www.sysrevpharm.org/abstract/adverse-effects-of-green-tea-on-public-health-the-untold-whole-medical-story-66030.html
• 86 Amarwati Tartillah B. The Power of Antioxidant: Tea Catechin and Body Oxidative Stress. In: Barros AN, Abraão AC, editors. The Power of Antioxidants – Unleashing Natureʼs Defense Against Oxidative Stress [Working Title] London: IntechOpen; 2024
• 87 Tsai CY, Chen CY, Chiou YH, Shyu HW, Lin KH, Chou MC, Huang MH, Wang YF. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate suppresses human herpesvirus 8 replication and induces ROS leading to apoptosis and autophagy in primary effusion lymphoma cells. Int J Mol Sci 2017; 19: 16