Cancer is exerting an immense strain on the population and health systems all over the world. Green tea because of its higher simple catechin content (up to 30% on dry weight basis) is greatly popular as an anti-cancer agent which is found to reduce the risks of cancer as well as a range of other diseases. In addition, several in vitro and in vivo studies have shown that green tea possesses copious health benefits like anti-diabetic, anti-obese, anti-inflammatory, neuro-protective, cardio-protective, etc. This review highlights the anti-carcinogenic effects of green tea catechins integrating the recent information to gain a clear concept. Special emphasis was given to the effectiveness of green tea polyphenols (GTP) in the prevention of cancer. Overall, green tea has been found to be effective to reduce the risks of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, liver cancer, colorectal cancer, skin cancer, prostate cancer, oral cancer, etc. However, sufficient information was not found to support that green tea consumption reduces the risk of lung cancer, esophageal cancer, or stomach cancer. The exciting data integrated into this article will increase interest in future researchers to garner more fruitful information on the relevant topics.
Keywords: anti-cancer agent; bioactive compounds; cancer prevention; catechins; health benefits.