A component of green tea combined with a low dose (200mg) of a Cox -2 inhibitor (sold as Celebrex) may act in concert to slow the spread of prostate cancer.

Why am I interested in prostate cancer? My father has recently learned that his Prostate - Specific Antigen (PSA) results are very high and are getting higher. He does not know whether this is prostate cancer and might choose to not know (read my blog of 18 June). This has certainly made me more aware of prostate cancer and other prostate-related illnesses .

The journal, Clinical Cancer Research, reports that low doses of the Cox-2 inhibitor given along with a green tea polyphenol slowed the growth of prostate cancer in cell cultures and in a mouse model of the disease. It was found that the green tea and Celebrex have a synergistic effect that combined, are more powerful than either agent alone.We have all heard about the controversy with drugs like Celebrex that have been shown to have adverse effects on the heart when taken at high dose for long periods of time. It is therefore worth noting that the doses of Celebrex used in the studies are much lower than in some other studies where doses of up to 800mg per day were used.

Hopefully the results of studies like this one leads to better treatments sooner. I have told my dad to drink lots of green tea in the meantime. There certainly are health benefits to green tea alone, and this can do him some good even if it is not in conjunction with the Celebrex.