Mayo Clinic researchers are reporting positive results in early leukemia clinical trials using the chemical epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), an active ingredient in green tea. The trial determined that patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) can tolerate the chemical fairly well when high doses are administered in capsule form and that lymphocyte count was reduced in one-third of participants. The findings appear online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
“We found not only that patients tolerated the green tea extract at very high doses, but that many of them saw regression to some degree of their chronic lymphocytic leukemia,” says Tait Shanafelt, M.D., Mayo Clinic hematologist and lead author of the study. “The majority of individuals who entered the study with enlarged lymph nodes saw a 50 percent or greater decline in their lymph node size.”
CLL is the most common subtype of leukemia in the United States. Currently it has no cure. Blood tests have enabled early diagnosis in many instances; however, treatment consists of watchful waiting until the disease progresses. Statistics show that about half of patients with early stage diseases have an aggressive form of CLL that leads to early death. Researchers hope that EGCG can stabilize CLL for early stage patients or perhaps improve the effectiveness of treatment when combined with other therapies.
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Dear all,
Thanks for all the information. As a surgeon in our clinic in the Netherlands and “suffering” from cll by myself, I am very interested in the use of “green tea extracts” Without medication – except the use of a green tea extract – my cll is stable for 6 years now. I wonder if there is any information available which brand of green tea is used in the Mayo clinics.
Thanks for any information in advance.
I try to get the substance standarized.
Robert W. Kreis
my father aged 65 has been diagnosed 9 months back as stage 0 of cll.i would like to know what brand of green tea can be had in u.s.a.and what is the dosage
The study is not about green tea itself, but a compound that is extracted from it. So there are no “brands” involved here, no drinking of tea. The clinical trial currently ongoing is to determine dosages and proper use of the compound which is administered in pill form.
Dear Mr. Nellis
My Boy Friend has had CLL for 9 years. He is 27 year old and so strong that no one can understand he is sick. I am new in this topic; so I want to know in detail about CLL. I read tones of articles, and found out that three things reduce leukemia cells in patients with CLL:
1. Green tea’s component ‘Epigallocatechin gallate’
2. Vitamin D
3. Pyrrolo-1,5-benzoxazepine-15 (PBOX-15)
What is your idea? Are these things useful?? If yes, how can I get them?
I love him and do not want to sit and see he is dying ….
Thank you in advance for your consideration and cooperation.
Best Regards
Ms. Rose
I need to know how much and what brand if it makes a difference ,what kind of green tea is being used Thanks
I received a call from the Mayo clinic and some e- mail .I am going to try something with green tea I have nothing to lose my count is over 100000 .I hope they are not wasting their time and come up with something different other than the chemo drugs that we know is as dangerous as the diesease thanks Bob Arguelles
Please see previous response.
Which company does the Mayo Clinic use for its’ source of green tea? Is labelling clear for dosage?
Would appreciate your reply to the above. Thank you.
Your question has been referred on for answering.
In reguards to the Green Tea compounds for CLL;
I’m 67 years old. Was diagnosed with CLL 10 years ago. Initial count was 11,000. Has slowly increased to 50,000.(from 42,000 6 months ago) Is it possible for me or my Physician to obtain the compounds or become part of a study?
Thank You
Bob
I was diagnosed in late 2000 with CLL. Although my blood results were were good for many years by the Spring of 2007 my doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering were telling me that I had to consider treatment due to the size of my lymthnodes and swelling. In my research over the internet at that time I noticed what the Mayo Clinic was investigating regarding green tea and ECGC. I had nothing to loose so I went out to my local Target and puchased an over the counter bottle of Green Tea Capsules, 315mg and took one capsule three times a day. Within 48 hours I no longer experienced pain in my neck glands, and the glands on the side of my face. Within 5 days the swelling around my collar bone practically dissappeared, as did the swelling on the side of my face due to enlarged glands. It did not stop the CLL, but it sure slowed it down for approximately 1 1/2 years until I went into treatment with FCR. I finished my treatment in March 2009, and I started taking the green tea capsules again. My doctors had advised that they have heard of similar stories, but can’t explain it. I simply suggest that for less than $5 for 100 capsules, try them, see if there is any results. It’s not the same type of ECGC compound that Mayo has specifically produced for them in clinical trials by pharmas, but you have nothing to lose and perhaps something to gain. It bought me another 1 1/2 years before I had to enter treatment.
Bob, your question has been referred on to Dr. Shanafelt.
have beginning stage CLL. Would like to
take green tea capsules, in hopes of improving, or stalling the development of
the disease. What dose should I take.I weigh 124 lbs.
Thanks,
Leah.
Leah, We cannot diagnose conditions, provide second opinions or make specific treatment recommendations here. If you would like to seek help from Mayo Clinic, please call one of our appointment offices in Arizona at 480-301-1735; Florida, 904-953-0323; or Minnesota, 507-284-2511.
In reguards to my previous email concerning CLL, please notify me of follow-up comments via email(I forgot to check the box at the bottom of the form)
Thanks
Bob
I have been recently diagnosed with CLL – 3 months ago. I am a 47 year old women and want to prolong this as long as I can. My count is currently at 40,000 and I want to do something instead of sitting around waiting for the count to get higher. I just started taking Green Tea Extract 400mg twice a day. Is that a good dosage? I would also like to know if there is any other herbs and/or diet that would help slow this down?
In a previous reply by Bob Nellis on Aug. 4:
The study is not about green tea itself, but a compound that is extracted from it. So there are no “brands” involved here, no drinking of tea. The clinical trial currently ongoing is to determine dosages and proper use of the compound which is administered in pill form.
I was diagnosed with CLL one month ago. I am in stage 0 with a wcc of 13.5 Your article about green tea extract is the type of info I’ve been searching for. Please send more info on the ECGC compound. I was disappointed my doctor only recommended that I continue to take my multi-vitamins (after I asked is there anything I could start doing now).
Please see Bob Nellis’ August 4th reply. Thank you.
I think that it is amazing the generated messaging that is taking place here because of what Mayo is doing .I seriously hope that this tea compound can do something in reducing the amount of wbc that are bad in my body I have alot, but my doctor told me I looked good had no signs of the disease in any parts of my body ,I hope it stays that way for a while.I too am taking green tea capsules twice a day I buy them from the vitamin shop,have been taking them for more that five weeks ,I think that if I was taking chemo now I might be very sick so I am going to wait Bob Arguelles
I have had CLL for more than 22 years. My current wbc is 285,000. I have no enlarged nodes and I feel fine. My spleen has enlarged within the past month and my doctor is pushing for chemo treatment. My rbc was dropping and I just started drinking green tea (Hoji-cha) and my rbc is now normal but my platelets may be low. I am so reluctant to go into treatment and think I will try the green tea extract. Does anyone else have this disease with so few symptoms?
Hi, Gloria.
22 years? 285,000 may or may not mean much.
I’d like to get in touch and talk. Would you like to?
Charlottesville Cancer Support Group
charlottesvillecsg@gmail.com
GLORIA MY WBC IS 350K AND I AM JUST DOING HOLISTIC THINGS AND MOST PROBABLY WILL NOT ENTER CLINCIAL TRIAL DUE TO NO IMMUNE AND ALSO BECAME ALLERGIC TO IGIV INFUSIONS AND ALLERGFIC TO MOST ANTIBIOTICS, MY SYSTEM JUST DOES NOT TAKE WELL TO ALLTHAT I DO HAVE ENLARAGED SPLEEN AND HAVE DIPPED LAST MONTH IN REDS SLIGHTLY . IF I DID NOT HAVE ENLARGED SPLEEN I WOULD FEEL ALOT BETTER OTHERWISE I HAVE LOTS OF ENERGY
Well, they talked me into treatment, after all these years. The HDMP/Rituxin. I’m not feeling very well, but it could be because the cells are being broken down. But I will say that my red cells are increasing and my spleen is normal. The wbc isn’t that decreased, 300 to 242, but the dr. believes it is still working. I have two more treatments – one after 3 weeks and one 3 weeks after that. I need some good nuitrition guidance!
just diagnosed with CLL count is high am on wait and watch would like to get an idea on EGCG dosage ASAP
thanks mike
Please see Bob Nellis’ August 4th reply. Thank you.
Has everybody seen the postings from the Mayo Clinic and the video of the Dr.? If not look up Mayo clinic Green Tea ,If you haven’t it is easy to find let me know . Bob
can you please post the link of the video
i am from belgium, so sorry for my bad english. our story/ My brother has 32 years,last year doctors noticed he has cll. His white cells has an amount of 21000 now.(last bloodtest Sept 2009) He is taking green tea capsule for from beginning of april 2009. Twice a day (twice 90mg). On last bloodtest(sept 2009),his white cells increased only for 500. So,I believe that the poliphenol of green tea can stabilize this illniss. Because of the fact the white cells increased for 3000 on previous blood tests(every the 3 months). Can somebody advice me if 180 mg poliphenol is enough?
For more information on CLL please visit http://www.mayoclinic.org/chronic-lymphocytic-leukemia/. To request an appointment visit http://www.mayoclinic.org/chronic-lymphocytic-leukemia/rsttreatment.html.
I am a 61 year old woman, diagnosed with stage IV Cll after a routine surgery in September 2008. Enlarged spleen, liver, many lymph nodes. White count a little high, RBC a little low, BM 45% infiltrated (diffuse), mutated. Treaded with FCx6. Currently in remission. Can I find out what type and quanity of EGCG. I feel it can not hurt and may slow things down a bit.
i have unmutated cll with all dna markers being negative, except 17B. started egcg two weeks ago.
I am so glad I found this site!
Thank you for this website.
thank you
I have had a great responce to green tea for 5 years but now my counts are going up. I have restatred the green tea and hope it helps again. Hope this new infor comes out soon
I am 67 and have early stage cll.
I would like to know when Greet Tea extract containing ECGC will be available in drugstores!!
Thanks
At this point research is continuing to test the efficacy of ECGC at various dose levels. Information on results of a Phase II clinical trial should be released shortly. Keep an eye on this Newsblog. Bob Nellis
thanks to the work that i found dr. shanafelt is doing at mayo, i have brought my wbc count from 129,000 in early february down to 80,000 on may 14,2010. i was’nt eligible for his study as he wants people off egcg for 60 days and i felt so much better[ no more deep abdomenal pain, less sleep problems, more energy] on egcg. i have unmutated CLL[ one of the more dangerous leukemias, diagnosed 3 1/2 years ago. egcg is available on-line, but GNC stores have horse sized capsules. i am taking 2100mg twice a day since mid- january. i don't think of it as a cure, just a management tool to buy me time before FCR or whatever thinks is best. he deserves a nobel prize because he is doing proper clinical trials on something available over the counter[ the web]. i hope pharmaceutical companies make millions and billions exploring cures for cancer, and i feel thankful for people like dr shanafelt who explore all the options and would highly recommend everyone get his take on CLL.
What you’re saying seems to contradict what Dr. Shafelt told me. He basically told me that it was still in the testing stages. How can you say that “thanks to the work you found” he’s doing, that you are improving?
Diagnosed with CLL in 2007 – had transfusions and chemo. Initially, thought to be ACL due to the high count. After treatment, blood tests perfect. Have done well but recently experiencing small wbc increase. Would certainly want to try green tea if it could possibly slow the count down.
In 6/4/09 article in Reuters Health, they mention in a study that the highest dose to be most effective was 1200 to 2000 milligrams of egcg. At that time, they were conducting a study using 2000 milligrams twice daily – have there been any results posted on that study?
Also, is their any info. re: what brand they use in their studies?
Thanks.
Iam 67. Diagnosed with cll 2 yrs ago. I am still at stage 0. I think cll patients are entitled to use the Green Tea extract used by Mayo Clinic even before its efficacy is established since there is no harm in that and with consultation with the patient’s oncologist.
How is it possible to make that piece of information public?!!
Hi everybody, I have recently had 15 rounds of Chemo, my wbc was to high the Green Tea I was taking didn’t have any effect ,my counts are normal now, however the chemo was not fun it did make me sick each time, but I recovered ,I don’t know how long my wbc’s will remain normal ,I hope for awhile it is not what I wanted to do but I was feeling sick,I will ask my hemotologist about the Green Tea again last time he thought it wouldn’t do much good, maybe he was right, but we have to keep trying, I would like a different way to treat this other than chemo, two treatments I had were all day it was tough I have three weeks off so I hope to feel better we all need alternatives to try Bob Arguelles
So is this “green tea extract” real or false hope? If something “can’t hurt,” we might as well be chewing bubble gum instead.
I am a CLL patient, not a health care professional. I live here in Charlottesville, VA
Thanks.
I was diagnosed about 1 year ago with a WBC of around 24000. In Febuary my count was 28000. More recently last month it was 46000. I did start taking capsule forms of Green Tea Extract in February. What’s important here is the total Milligram intake. The Mayo study abstract had people taking 2000mg twice a day (4000mg total). I started taking around 750 per day and obviously it had no effect since February. I still have no symptoms though and I can’t say the extract helped out. However, I now found a product that has EGCG in capsule form with 725mg per serving (2 capsules). So I have started taking around 2000 mg. per day. I go back in for another count in 4 months so I’ll see what happens. Otherwise I feel fine and again no symptoms at this stage. I would like to find an over the counter brand of EGCG (the main component in Green Tea) that has a higher mg per serving than 725 if any one knows of such a product? I believe Roche Pharma supplied the EGCG to the Mayo Clinic study??
I’m not a health care professional, but I’ve heard that your WBC count is just one of many numbers doctors look at. I have CLL.
I have had CLL for 10-11 years…was in the watch and wait stage until last year when I got really sick and my spleen and liver enlarged as well as my lymph nodes and my wbc was 450,000+ Yikes!!
I have been treated now with a pill Leukeran for a short time last year until my platelets hit 17! and my rbc went way down too…
Now I have been treated with Treanda and Rituxan (I could not tolerate the Rituxan it shut my breathing down) so we stopped that and continued now with the 6th dose of Treanda. I see my doctor on Thursday and will see what my counts are now…I think the wbc will be around 13,000 or lower but my rbc and platelets will be low too due to the Treanda attacking the good as well as the bad…
I want to know how much ECGC is the best to take….I have a good source through Nature’s Sunshine Products…but don’t know how much to take. Please advise me soon as I want to start right away before my doctor wants to try more chemotherapy.
Barbara
Thank you for your message.
Unfortunately, we cannot diagnose conditions, provide second opinions or make specific treatment recommendations through this correspondence. However, I have attached a couple of links to pages on our website that you may find helpful: (insert links) If you would like to seek help from Mayo Clinic, please call one of our appointment offices in Arizona at 480-301-1735; Florida, 904-953-0323; or Minnesota, 507-284-2511.
I have CLL for 2 years now. My WBC went from 8K to 23K in 1.5 years. In the last 6 months taking 1500 mg EGCG per day the WBC has stabilized. Maybe it has to do with the EGCG – I don’t know. The other good thing is that it’s not very expensive. I get NOW brand, a popular supplement, green tea extract [200mg EGCG] caplets, 90 for $7.00 at a discount natural food store. I bought about a years supply,+or-, for $160.00 in 180 vcap bottles. Hope this helps somebody.
My wcc was just listed at 21000 with reds and platelets being normal. This means I’ve gone from 24000 to 21000 in 6 months of EGCG caplets [2000 mg of EGCG/day}, so I’m happy.
Hi:
I had CLL and finished my chemo 10 months ago. My wbc and platelet were 1.2 and 52 before the chemo and 2.2 and 85 are right now.
I want to take green tea extract but I have told that taking green tea bring my wbc lower.
Anyone know this is true or not?
please let me know.
thanks
Ras
just wanted to know if there is any kind of help for inmates with no insurance and no means to get treatment in there for leukimea sicknes. im trying to help my ex wife for the sake of my two daughters 4 and 6 years old. shes 30 years old and is encarserated in las vegas nevada fmcc, jamey boyd # 1054430. anything that can help would be such a great help for her. my name is german and i would greatly apreciated any info that i can get thank you.
Mayo has no green tea extract; it is an over the counter product at this point and can be purchased a nutrition stores. If taken, needs to be done in collaboration with physician.
Hi
There is a preview (date) when you will be ready for phase III clinical trial?
Best Regards.
Roger
We’re checking on this for you.
There is no date for phase 3 and it is unknown whether it will ever happen at this point.
My husband had CLL for several years, and had chemo (CFR, Rituximab intravenously but the C and F drug in pill form) last year. He’s been taking ECGC green tea pills for a few years and we feel that held off the chemo for probably 4-5 years. We buy them at a health food store. They are not cheap and specifically have ECGC on the bottle.
Should he quit taking the ECGC green tea pills now as it would make his already low wbc lower? Any advise would be welcomed.
The Mayo Clinical trials for the CLL EGCG study were funded by US private citizens. There will NOT be any further trials because Big Pharma was not interested in helping fund this…there is just no money to be made from it. So we are on our own.
Google dandelion tea, yes, type in: “dandelion tea and leukemia”…you will be SHOCKED. Meanwhile, buy green tea capsules with the highest % EGCG in them (AOR brand is the best one I found), the ones that have ALL the tea catcheins in them, including the small amount of caffeine, plus buy additional loose green tea leaf to brew and drink…Macha green tea which comes from Japan…google it…it has the highest egcg… buy in 1 lb bulk for the best price…I found it at Mountain Rose Organics online. Use the two together and drink two quarts a day along with taking the capsules three times a day. You should get the benefit of the WHOLE tea leaf, not just one isolated compound…they work in synergy together…you dont see the Japanese people with our rates of Cancer, nor do you see them popping EGCG pills…they drink alot of it.
Then, buy dandelion root AND dandelion leaf online in bulk…I got mine from Mountain Rose Organics. Make a nice strong quart brew of this everyday using both the root and the leaf together…to keep the synergy together and not isolate all the components of the plant. Dandelion has no natural caffeine.
Dr. Hulda Clark has a parasite cleanse online. Do the cleanse, it “claims” to cure leukemia…but after you are done with the initial cleanse, you need to stay on the once a week maintanance dose until you get new blood work to see results. It is not expensive…it is Black Walnut Hull tincture, Wormwood, and Cloves (not the grocery store ones which have lost potency).
Stop eating garbage…stick to whole raw foods…veggies and fruit, nuts and whole grains…(except corn, peanuts, and cashews, they are full of fungus) and no processed foods, dairy and meat. Our food is severely contaminated and depleted and has been for decades. Give your immunity system a chance to fight for you by treating it well. Sugar is the #1 enemy…especially diet drinks…use Stevia for sweetening…it is a herb and is tasty. Eat Hemp seeds and use Flax Seed Oil for complete Omega 3′s. You can buy the Hemp seeds at any good health store or online.
Do your homework!
God Bless you all and good luck
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