Sir, I read with interest your recent News item proposing use of Nisin food preservative for preventive management of head and neck carcincoma.1 Another potentially very valuable, somewhat overlooked, yet accepted and safe, natural health aid is green tea extract (GTE) from the leaves of Camellia sinensis. GTE is available over-the-counter and possesses potent antioxidants called catechins of which the chief active ingredient is epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). Its stability in hot water is good with minimal activity loss and it is naturally water soluble. At and above physiological pH the catechins are unstable. So EGCG may present with somewhat compromised systemic bioavailability – but this does not at all rule out its topical benefits. EGCG is anticancer and also has other benefits such as cardioprotection.2 In fact, green tea has antibacterial and antiinflammatory3 and antiviral4 in addition to cancer chemopreventive capabilities.5,6 A controlled clinical trial of GTE showed a trend towards a dose-response effect for green tea exposure in patients with premalignancy of the mouth.6 The authors summarise that these results support the longer-term clinical testing of green tea extract for oral cancer prevention. Green tea is thus a topical 'topical'!
References
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Chava V K, Vedula B D . Thermo reversible green tea catechin gel for local application in chronic periodontitis – a four week clinical trial. J Periodontol 2012; doi:10.1902/jop.2012.120425.
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Tsao A S, Liu D, Martin J et al. Phase II randomized, placebo-controlled trial of green tea extract in patients with high-risk oral premalignant lesions. Cancer Prev Res (Phila) 2009; 2: 931–941.
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Loudon, J. A topical topical. Br Dent J 214, 218 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2013.228
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2013.228