17 July 2012
A compound found in green tea may provide the key to treating prostate cancer, according to a new study.
Specialists at the University of Missouri, in the US, have found that the compound can be used to help deliver tiny particles of radioactive gold dust to cancer sites and thus provide an effective form of cancer treatment.
According to the researchers working on the study, which is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, it could possibly pave the way for novel ways of preventing the spread of the disease.
Initial studies using mouse models have found that the therapy reduced tumour size by 80 per cent, revealed lead scientist Professor Kattesh Katti, who now intends to pursue further studies using larger subjects, and eventually humans.
"When we combined the tea compound with radioactive gold nanoparticles, the tea compound helped 'deliver' the nanoparticles to the site of the tumours and the nanoparticles destroyed the tumour cells very efficiently," he explained.
Posted by Edward Bartel
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