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Anti-Oxidants from Green Tea and Pomegranate for Chemoprevention of Prostate Cancer

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Abstract

Among males, prostate cancer has become the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in North America, with similar trends in many Western and developing countries. One way to control prostate cancer is through chemoprevention, which refers to the administration of synthetic or naturally occurring agents to block, reverse, or delay the process of carcinogenesis. For a variety of reasons, the most important of which is human acceptance, for chemopreventive intervention, naturally occurring diet-based agents are preferred. Prostate cancer is an ideal candidate disease for chemopreventive intervention, because it grows very slowly, likely for decades, before symptoms arise and a diagnosis is finally established, it has a long latency period, and it is typically diagnosed in men >50 years of age. Most chemopreventive agents are antioxidant in nature. We have been defining the usefulness of dietary anti-oxidants for chemoprevention of prostate and other cancers. It is increasingly appreciated that some of these dietary anti-oxidants are nature’s gift molecules endowed with cancer preventive and therapeutic properties. This review will focus on prostate cancer chemopreventive effects of polyphenolic anti-oxidants derived from green tea and pomegranate. It is a challenge to custom-tailor these gift molecules as cocktails in concentrations that can easily be consumed by humans for delaying prostate and other cancers.

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Acknowledgments

The original work from the author’s (H.M.) laboratory outlined in this review was supported by United States Public Health Service Grants R01 CA 78809, R01 CA 101039, P50 DK065303-01 and RO1 CA 120451.

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  1. Department of Dermatology, University of Wisconsin, 1300 University Avenue, Medical Sciences Center, Room B-25, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA

    Vaqar Mustafa Adhami & Hasan Mukhtar

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  1. Vaqar Mustafa Adhami
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  2. Hasan Mukhtar
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Correspondence to Hasan Mukhtar.

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Adhami, V.M., Mukhtar, H. Anti-Oxidants from Green Tea and Pomegranate for Chemoprevention of Prostate Cancer. Mol Biotechnol 37, 52–57 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12033-007-0047-8

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