Ovarian Cancer and Tea

If you need one more reason to begin a habit of drinking tea, the results of a new Swedish study might just push you over the edge and into the tea aisle of your grocery or health food store. Susanna C. Larsson, MSc, and colleagues reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine that middle-aged women who drink two or more cups of green or black tea every day may reduce their risk for invasive epithelial ovarian cancer by almost half.

The Karolinska Institute researchers studied 61,057 women ages 40 to 76 who completed a diet questionnaire and were then tracked for an average of 15.1 years. Women who consumed two or more cups of tea per day lowered their risk for ovarian cancer by 46%, with each additional cup lowering the risk by another 18%. The study found that even enjoying a spot of tea only occasionally offered some benefit: Those who drank less than one cup daily still reduced their risk somewhat when compared with women who rarely or never drank tea.

Tea contains antioxidant polyphenols, substances thought to block cell damage that can lead to cancer. Jeffrey Blumberg, PhD, a professor in Tufts' Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, notes that the antioxidant capacity per cup is similar between green and black tea. You can think of tea as another serving of plant food, providing phytochemicals similar to those in fruits and vegetables, Blumberg says.

The results in the Swedish study may not be entirely due to tea, however, Julie Buring, DSc, of Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital cautioned in an Associated Press report. She noted the study also found that women who drank tea tended to be in better health, thanks to lifestyle habits. Indeed, the study's authors acknowledged that "the women who were regular tea drinkers were also those who ate more fruits and vegetables, were slimmer, and generally more health-conscious."

Still, Larsson and her team concluded that the dose-response relationship for tea consumption with ovarian cancer risk makes a strong case for the preventive properties of tea.

Treating Ovarian Cancer With Ginger

Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, are currently investigating ginger as a treatment for ovarian cancer. Ginger is already known to be effective at controlling inflammation, and inflammation contributes to the development of ovarian cancer cells. The researcher’s suspect that by halting the inflammatory reaction, ginger could also stop cancer cells from growing. Laboratory studies have shown that ginger caused ovarian cancer cells to die. The way in which the cells died suggests the use of ginger may eliminate the problem of the cells becoming resistant to standard treatments.

Using a standardized research grade ginger powder dissolved in solution, the researchers applied ginger to ovarian cancer cell cultures. The ginger caused two types of cell death—apoptosis and autophagy, in which cells digest themselves— in all the ovarian cancer cell lines tested. "In multiple ovarian cancer cell lines, we found that ginger induced cell death at a similar or better rate than the platinum based chemotherapy drugs typically used to treat ovarian cancer," says Jennifer Rhode, MD, a gynecologic oncology fellow at the University of Michigan Medical School. While the study results are still very preliminary, the researchers, who presented their finding at the poster session at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting, plan to test whether they can obtain similar results in animal studies. The advantage of using ginger to treat ovarian cancer is that it could be administered in capsule form with virtually no side effects.

Stages of Ovarian Cancer

Stage 1: Tumor limited to the ovaries

IA , limited to one ovary, no tumor on the ovarian surface, no malignant cells in ascites or peritoneal washings, capsule intact

IB , limited to both ovaries, no tumor on the ovarian surface, no malignant cells in ascites or peritoneal washings, capsules intact

IC , limited to one or both ovaries, tumor on ovarian surface, capsule ruptured, ascites or peritoneal washings containing malignant cells

Stage 2: Tumor involving one or both ovaries with pelvic extension

IIA , extension or metastasis to the uterus or tubes, no malignant cells in ascites or peritoneal washings

IIB , extension to other pelvic tissues, no malignant cells in ascites or peritoneal washings

IIC , pelvic extension, ascites fluid or peritoneal washings containing malignant cells

Stage 3: Tumor involving one or both ovaries, peritoneal implants outside the pelvis or regional lymph node metastasis

IIIA , gross tumor limited to the true pelvis, negative nodes, microscopic peritoneal metastasis beyond the pelvis

IIIB , macroscopic peritoneal metastasis 2 cm or less in greatest dimension beyond the pelvis

IIIC , abdominal implants greater than 2 cm in greatest dimension or positive regional nodes

Stage 4: Tumor involving one or both ovaries, metastasis greater than 2 cm in greatest dimension beyond the pelvis. If pleural effusion is present, cytologic test results must be positive.

Parenchymal liver metastases equals stage 5.