by WTN Staff

A medical student from Taiwan last week at a conference in California presented the results of a study suggesting that green tea could dampen the growth of cancer cells caused by smoking.

I-Hsin Lin and other researchers at the Chung Shan Medical University in Taiwan conducted the study. Lin presented the findings Jan. 12 at the Joint Conference on Molecular Origins of Lung Cancer of the American Association for Cancer Research and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.

The team studied 510 subjects, 170 of whom were lung cancer patients. Using questionnaires, the researchers established smoking and green tea drinking habits, as well as genotypes of subjects.

They found that, across the entire group of subjects, non-tea drinkers were five times more likely to have lung cancer than those who drank at least one cup of green tea per day. Looking at smokers only, non-tea drinkers were nearly 13 times more likely to have lung cancer. The findings also indicated that genetics play a role in lung cancer risk from smoking.

Lin concluded, "Our study may represent a clue that, in the case of lung cancer, smoking-induced carcinogenesis could be modulated by green tea consumption and the growth factor environment."

In published reports, spokespeople for various health organizations hastened to add that quitting smoking was still the best way to avoid getting lung cancer. Lin concurred.