Prostate Cancer Treatment: Green Tea Extract in Treating Patients With Prostate Cancer Undergoing Surgery

RATIONALE: Green tea extract contains ingredients that may prevent or slow the growth of prostate cancer.

PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying how well green tea extract works in treating patients with prostate cancer undergoing surgery to remove the prostate.

• Post-treatment green tea catechin concentration levels in prostate tissue

• Clusterin, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, and MMP-9 levels
• Serum levels of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 and IGF binding protein-3
• Ratio of 8OHdG:dG

OBJECTIVES:

Primary

• Determine the bioavailability of green tea catechins in prostate tissue after treatment with defined green tea extract in patients with prostate cancer.

Secondary

• Determine the effect of this treatment on changes in clusterin levels and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 in prostate tissue from these patients.
• Determine the effect of this treatment on changes in serum insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 and IGF binding protein-3 in these patients.
• Determine the effect of this treatment on changes in oxidative DNA damage in peripheral blood leukocytes in these patients.

OUTLINE: This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms.

• Arm I: Patients receive oral green tea extract daily for 4-7 weeks.
• Arm II: Patients receive oral placebo daily for 4-7 weeks. All patients undergo surgery one day after the last dose of study agent. Biopsies are taken at the time of surgery. Plasma and tissue catechin levels are measured with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). 8OHdG levels in peripheral blood are measured with HPLC and mass spectometry. Immunohistochemistry is used to measure matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, MMP-9, and clusterin. Insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 and IGF binding protein-3 are measured with immunoenzyme techniques.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 50 patients will be accrued for this study.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Biopsy-proven adenocarcinoma of the prostate meeting the following criteria:

  • Organ-confined disease
  • Treatable by prostatectomy
• PSA < 50 ng/mL

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• ECOG performance status (PS) 0-1 or Karnofsky PS 70-100%
• Bilirubin normal
• AST and ALT normal
• Creatinine normal
• Fertile patients must use effective contraception

• No uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, any of the following:

  • Ongoing or active infection
  • Symptomatic congestive heart failure
  • Unstable angina pectoris
  • Cardiac arrhythmia
  • Psychiatric illness or social situations that would limit study compliance
• No history of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to green tea extract

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• No prior therapy for prostate cancer (i.e., hormone therapy, radiation therapy, or surgery)
• No systemic treatment (chemotherapy) and/or radiation therapy for any malignancy within the past 5 years (excluding nonmelanoma skin cancer or cancer confined to organs with surgical removal as the only treatment)
• No regular tea consumption (> 6 servings of hot tea or 12 servings of iced tea or equivalent combination per week) within the past month
• No other concurrent investigational agents
• No other concurrent consumption of tea or tea-derived products from green, black, or oolong tea