Green tea

Question
Hi! Someone told me today that they just read an article over the weekend about green tea-that it has just been proven to shrink tumors in rats. I don't know if it's actual green tea or extract, and I don't know how much, but I was wondering if you had seen or heard anything about that?
  I also wanted to give you an update on my girl Isis, she's the one with the bloody urine- I brought her in for her suture removal from her spay and the vet said she looks great. Although she is still bleeding, the vet is fairly certain that it's hormonal. She said she saw it with another rat recently. When Isis had gone in for her spay, my vet not only took an xray ahead of time but also checked her with a speculum (I can't imagine they make them that small!!) and everything seemed fine. She is still very active and eating very well. The vet recommended that if she is still bleeding in a month that we should xray again.
  Please let me know if you heard anything about green tea-I have 3 girls with tumors scheduled for surgery and it would be great to have something that would slow or prevent their growth! Apparently it was a new study and in the newspaper, and written for humans. I guess they were discussing the health benefits of green tea for people and mentioned that it even shrinks tumors in lab rats, or something like that.
Thanks!

Answer
Hi LIsa


Thanks for the update on your girl. I always love to hear about how they are doing after people write to me.

As for the green tea, what these studies dont say is that they use 10 times the normal amount used in these tests, which safety has not been established in these excessive amounts.

Check out my website and the section on mammary tumors for more info. THere is a drug called lupron that can be used to halt estrogen productions and therefore slow down the growth and development of mammary tumors that are benign. However, if the biopsy suggests the tumors are  malignant, tamoxifen can be safely used, which is a hormone as well and in fact is used successfully in women with breast cancer.

http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/allabouttumors.htm

I would, to be honest, not waste time on any type of holistic remedy and instead I would have the tumors removed, biopsied and see what you have in front of you.