The Arizona Cancer Center at the University of Arizona currently is conducting three separate studies on the benefits of green tea.

The first, funded by the national Cancer Institute, is a six-week clinical trial that will seek to determine whether polyphenon E (an extract of green tea) can affect biomarkers in blood and/or prostate tissue in men with prostate cancer.

The second, also funded by the national Cancer Institute and also a clinical trial, will last six months and evaluate the effect of polyphenon E on persistent precancerous cells of the cervix.

The third will study patients with COPD, or difficulty breathing, to see if regular tea consumption is associated with decreased damage to fat, protein or genetic material, which is thought to contribute to the development of cancer. This study will last 8 months and be led by physician Iman Hakim.