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Review
. 2017 Dec;143(12):2401-2412.
doi: 10.1007/s00432-017-2515-2. Epub 2017 Sep 23.

Human cancer stem cells are a target for cancer prevention using (-)-epigallocatechin gallate

Hirota Fujiki  1 , Eisaburo Sueoka  2 , Anchalee Rawangkan  3 , Masami Suganuma  3
Affiliations
Review

Human cancer stem cells are a target for cancer prevention using (-)-epigallocatechin gallate

Hirota Fujiki et al. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2017 Dec.

Abstract

Purpose: Our previous experiments show that the main constituent of green-tea catechins, (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), completely prevents tumor promotion on mouse skin initiated with 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene followed by okadaic acid and that EGCG and green tea extract prevent cancer development in a wide range of target organs in rodents. Therefore, we focused our attention on human cancer stem cells (CSCs) as targets of cancer prevention and treatment with EGCG.

Methods: The numerous reports concerning anticancer activity of EGCG against human CSCs enriched from cancer cell lines were gathered from a search of PubMed, and we hope our review of the literatures will provide a broad selection for the effects of EGCG on various human CSCs.

Results: Based on our theoretical study, we discuss the findings as follows: (1) Compared with the parental cells, human CSCs express increased levels of the stemness markers Nanog, Oct4, Sox2, CD44, CD133, as well as the EMT markers, Twist, Snail, vimentin, and also aldehyde dehydrogenase. They showed decreased levels of E-cadherin and cyclin D1. (2) EGCG inhibits the transcription and translation of genes encoding stemness markers, indicating that EGCG generally inhibits the self-renewal of CSCs. (3) EGCG inhibits the expression of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition phenotypes of human CSCs. (4) The inhibition of EGCG of the stemness of CSCs was weaker compared with parental cells. (5) The weak inhibitory activity of EGCG increased synergistically in combination with anticancer drugs.

Conclusions: Green tea prevents human cancer, and the combination of EGCG and anticancer drugs confers cancer treatment with tissue-agnostic efficacy.

Keywords: CSCs; EGCG; Parental cells; Self-renewal; Stemness.

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Conflict of interest statement

We declare no potential conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
EGCG inhibits the proliferation of nasopharyngeal CSCs and parental cells. MTT assays of (a) TW01 sphere-derived cells (square) and TW01 parental cells (filled square) and (b) TW06 sphere-derived cells (filled triangle) and TW06 parental cells (filled circle) (Lin et al. , Reproduced with the permission of Dr. Yann-Jang Chen)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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