title: Natural products and the treatment of leukemia.
abstract: Plants have been the source of many medicines in the pharmacopoeia. So much so that an industry has arisen selling plant extracts as health foods. To a great degree it operates over the internet and it chiefly caters to the worried well. However, cancer patients frequently take plant extracts in addition to their prescribed medicines. These extracts are not biologically inactive, and many have important pro-apoptotic effects on cancer cell-lines in vitro. In this issue a study of the in vivo effects of green tea extract in low grade lymphomas is reported. The results are sufficiently encouraging to initiate a formal clinical trial.
authors.forename: Terry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hamblin
mesh_terms: D016588:Anticarcinogenic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D028241:Camellia sinensis / Q000737:chemistry; D002392:Catechin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009365:Neoplasm Regression, Spontaneous; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010936:Plant Extracts; D011859:Radiography; D012074:Remission Induction / Q000379:methods; D013662:Tea / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D016588:Anticarcinogenic Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts; D013662:Tea; D002392:Catechin; C045651:epigallocatechin gallate