Tea It Up Against Cancer

As a national organization, the MSBL’s official charitable cause is the eradication of prostate cancer. The MSBL works with its local leagues to raise tens of thousands of dollars annually that it donates to the Prostate Cancer Foundation. While many members help to raise funds, it is rare to find a member who both raises money and also uses funds to do research to fight against prostate cancer.  Jim Cardelli of the Shreveport-Bossier MSBL is just such a man and does so through his work for the Feist-Weiller Cancer Center of Shreveport, Louisiana.

Dr. Cardelli is to the Feist-Weiller Cancer Center research team what Derek Jeter is to the Yankees. For example, his team’s research on the cancer-slowing properties of green teas has produced promising clinical results. The team is now attempting to understand how compounds in green tea can be improved and best used to prevent cancer from advancing. That process – from the laboratory, to the patient, and back to the laboratory is known as translational research.

Why study green tea?

“Ten billion Asians can’t be wrong,” says Cardelli, exaggerating the population figure to make his point. “The incidence of prostate cancer in Asian men living in Asia is much lower than whites,” he observes. “Those Asians who move here and take on a Western diet have (cancer) rates comparable to whites. What you eat is important. Green tea is the second most popular drink in the world behind water.”

Knowing that, scientists like Cardelli began studies to see if the chemicals in green tea could act as anti-cancer agents. In one study, a purified form of green tea was administered to men who were predisposed to prostate cancer. One of 30 of those men developed prostate cancer in a year. By contrast, 10 of 30 similarly predisposed men in the placebo group (the men who didn’t receive the tea) developed the same cancer. “This was obviously very exciting and pushed us to start our trial,” Cardelli said.

The clinical trials being conducted by the Feist-Weiller Cancer Center research team that Cardelli heads are designed to give men and women with prostate and breast cancer respectively the equivalent of 12 cups of green tea a day in a pill form. “Most people do not drink this much,” Cardelli said.

“Diet is very important in preventing cancer and our studies and others suggest components in the diet can also slow or prevent the growth of cancer after it has started,” Cardelli said. “Essentially, we are proposing that certain purified natural products can act not just as chemopreventive agents, but also as anti-cancer agents.”

Baseball Analogy

One does not have to delve too deeply into the world of cancer research before the terminology becomes an obstacle to clear understanding.  So think of Cardelli’s work this way.

Tumor cells are the members of the opposing batting order. If your pitcher, your shortstop, or your center fielder – or all of them – stink, the tumor cells will reach base frequently and score frequently. When tumors score a lot of runs we tend to lose the game.

The polyphenols in tea (the chemical that researchers believe help fight and prevent cancer) are like pitchers and fielders – good ones. If you’re playing the tumors, you want Bob Gibson on the mound, Derek Jeter at shortstop and Willie Mays in center field – or all of them. If the tumors do hit the ball, you don’t want them to run freely around the bases.

Searching for the Holy Grail

The search for cancer-fighting agents doesn’t stop at tea, Cardelli said. Nuts, berries, wine, peppers, pomegranates, and other foods are involved. “Our long term goal is to design an anti-cancer cocktail that would contain safe, effective and orally available chemicals from natural products along with drugs proven to be effective in some but not all cancer patients,” Cardelli said. “Our studies so far suggest that this combination could be more effective than single agents given alone,” he added.

The $64,000 question is, “should we all be drinking gallons of green tea each day? “There is no hard data that consumption of a few cups a day will really help you,” Cardelli said. “You should consume berries, tea, and leafy green items and cut down on meat….a balanced diet really is important primarily to prevent cancer.” #

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Jim Cardelli,
A Man for All Seasons

Jim Cardelli of the Shreveport-Bossier MSBL led as its president from 2004 to 2007 and now serves as its director of public relations. When he is not playing or promoting baseball, Cardelli is a cutting edge research scientist who wages war against cancer.