(UPI) ROCHESTER, Minn. - Dec. 14, 2005 -- A component of green tea is showing benefits in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), says a new study.

The preliminary research released by the Mayo Clinic Wednesday showed that four patients with CLL appeared to have an improvement in the clinical state of their disease after beginning a regimen of products containing epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), an extract of green tea sold in drugstores.

Three of the four patients met the standard criteria used to define a response treatment for clinical trials, the researchers said.

The Mayo Clinic scientists say they are building on data they had previously gathered showing that EGCG kills leukemia cells from patients with CLL in the test tube by interrupting the communication signals they need to survive.

The latest findings are published online in Leukemia Research.

"The experience of these individuals provides some suggestion that our previously published laboratory findings may actually translate into clinical effects for patients with this disease," said lead study author Tait Shanafelt, a Mayo Clinic hematologist.

But he urged caution with the very early results of a decidedly small study.

"We do not know how many patients were taking similar products and failed to have any benefit. We also do not yet know the optimal dose that should be used, the frequency with which patients should take the medication, and what side effects will be observed with long-term administration," Shanafelt said.

CLL is a blood and bone-marrow cancer that affects 8,000 to 15,000 new patients each year in the United States, the researchers said.

"Tea first. Then be ready."

-Twin Peaks
Episode 5