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Japanese professor says Viagra and green tea may combat cancer

Hirofumi Tachibana, professor at Kyushu University, conducted a study which concluded that a mixture of erectile dysfunction drugs, such as Viagra, and green tea is effective in combating cancer. Experiments conducted on mice that were implanted with different kinds of cancer cells proved to have been successful in both stopping their growth and completely eradicating said cells.

In 2004, Tachibana discovered that a certain catechin called Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) found in green tea could prevent carcinogenesis, that is, the creation of cancer. At the time, however, some researchers were doubtful of the catechin's potency. Tachibana later realized that it could be the human enzyme PDE5 that is causing the ineffectiveness of the EGCG. Incidentally, erectile dysfunction drugs such as Viagra can effectively block PDE5. Thus, when the drug was combined with the EGCG from the green tea and was injected into a mouse with blood cancer, the effect was that the growth of the cancer cells halted. Even more astounding is when this was tried on a mouse with human breast cancer cells, the malignant cells completely disappeared. In terms of other types of cancer, like pancreatic, stomach and prostate tumors, the study showed that Tachibana's treatment is more effective than conventional ones.

The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation on Friday, January 25, said that there will be a clinical trial of the treatment on cancer patients in the United States later in the year. The study's proponent warned, however, that people should not try to make their own concoction and administer it to themselves, as there could be side effects that have not yet manifested.

http://japandailypress.com/japanese-prof…