Markowska Anna, Antoszczak Michał, Markowska Janina, Huczyński Adam
Department of Perinatology and Women's Health, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, 60-535 Poznań, Poland.
Department of Medical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Adam Mickiewicz University, 61-614 Poznań, Poland.
Nutrients. 2025 Jan 8;17(2):212. doi: 10.3390/nu17020212.
Tea is a significant source of flavonoids in the diet. Due to different production processes, the amount of bioactive compounds in unfermented (green) and (semi-)fermented tea differs. Importantly, green tea has a similar composition of phenolic compounds to fresh, unprocessed tea leaves. It consists primarily of monomeric flavan-3-ols, known as catechins, of which epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is the most abundant. Thanks to its antioxidant, antiproliferative, and antiangiogenic properties, EGCG has attracted the scientific community's attention to its potential use in preventing and/or combating cancer. In this review article, we summarize the literature reports found in the Google Scholar and PubMed databases on the anticancer effect of EGCG on selected malignant neoplasms in women, i.e., breast, cervical, endometrial, and ovarian cancers, which have been published over the last two decades. It needs to be emphasized that EGCG concentrations reported as effective against cancer cells are typically higher than those found in plasma after polyphenol administration. Moreover, the low bioavailability and absorption of EGCG appear to be the main reasons for the differences in the effects between in vitro and in vivo studies. In this context, we also decided to look at possible solutions to these problems, consisting of combining the polyphenol with other bioactive components or using nanotechnology. Despite the promising results of the studies conducted so far, mainly in vitro and on animal models, there is no doubt that further, broad-based activities are necessary to unequivocally assess the potential use of EGCG in oncological treatment to combat cancer in women.
茶是饮食中黄酮类化合物的重要来源。由于生产工艺不同，未发酵（绿茶）和（半）发酵茶中生物活性化合物的含量有所差异。重要的是，绿茶中酚类化合物的组成与新鲜的未加工茶叶相似。它主要由单体黄烷 - 3 - 醇（即儿茶素）组成，其中表没食子儿茶素没食子酸酯（EGCG）含量最为丰富。由于其抗氧化、抗增殖和抗血管生成特性，EGCG在预防和/或对抗癌症方面的潜在用途引起了科学界的关注。在这篇综述文章中，我们总结了在谷歌学术和PubMed数据库中找到的关于EGCG对女性特定恶性肿瘤（即乳腺癌、宫颈癌、子宫内膜癌和卵巢癌）抗癌作用的文献报道，这些报道发表于过去二十年。需要强调的是，报道的对癌细胞有效的EGCG浓度通常高于多酚给药后血浆中的浓度。此外，EGCG的低生物利用度和吸收率似乎是体外和体内研究效果存在差异的主要原因。在此背景下，我们还决定探讨这些问题的可能解决方案，包括将多酚与其他生物活性成分结合或使用纳米技术。尽管迄今为止主要在体外和动物模型上进行的研究取得了有前景的结果，但毫无疑问，需要进一步开展广泛的活动，以明确评估EGCG在肿瘤治疗中对抗女性癌症的潜在用途。
