最近松鼠会的文章说喝绿茶“相当不可能”具有抗癌的作用，因为FDA是这么说的，本着凡是权威说了不为什么的时候，就得问为什么的原则，咱们就一起研究研究。

走进PubMed，打入关键词，EGCG，cancer，（注EGCG是茶多酚里一个主要成分，学名epigallocatechin-3-gallate，表没食子儿茶素没食子酸酯，很绕，就叫EGCG），到今天有725篇文章。

很多是细胞和动物的研究，绝大多数的结论是EGCG能抑制癌细胞，机理是通过很多生理通路影响癌细胞的生长，HISTOLOGY AND HISTOPATHOLOGY（2008 Apr;23:487-96）的一篇综述是这样描述的：

Additionally, the cancer-preventive effects of green tea are widely supported by results from epidemiological, cell culture, animal and clinical studies. In vitro cell culture studies show that tea polyphenols potently induce apoptotic cell death and cell cycle arrest in tumor cells but not in their normal cell counterparts. Green tea polyphenols were shown to affect several biological pathways, including growth factor-mediated pathway, the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase-dependent pathway, and ubiquitin/proteasome degradation pathways. Various animal studies have revealed that treatment with green tea inhibits tumor incidence and multiplicity in different organ sites such as skin, lung, liver, stomach, mammary gland and colon. Recently, phase I and II clinical trials have been conducted to explore the anticancer effects of green tea in humans. 继续阅读 »