Despite advances in diagnosis and therapy, breast cancer remains the leading cause of death in many countries. Green tea (GT) has been proposed to play a crucial role in cancer chemoprevention. Although extensive research has been conducted on GT phytochemicals, most experimental studies concentrate mainly on commercial formulations or isolated catechins. This study presents a comparative investigation into the anticancer properties of green tea extract (GTE) and epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) in a three-dimensional (3D) MCF-7 breast cancer cell culture. MCF-7 spheroids were exposed to GTE or EGCG, and effects on 3D culture formation, growth, cell viability, and migration were examined. GTE inhibits cell migration and the formation of breast cancer spheroids more effectively than EGCG, while inducing more pronounced morphological changes in the spheroids' structure. These findings suggest that the food matrix improves GTE effects on breast cancer spheroids, supporting the hypothesis that a mixture of phytochemicals might enhance its anticancer potential.
Keywords: 3D culture; breast cancer; food matrix; green tea; phytochemicals.