RATIONALE: Green tea contains ingredients that may prevent or slow the growth of certain cancers. It is not yet known whether green tea is more effective than black tea or water in treating prostate cancer.

PURPOSE: This randomized phase II trial is studying green tea to see how well it works compared with black tea and water in treating patients with prostate cancer undergoing surgery.

OBJECTIVES:

• to determine the effect of GT and BT consumption on apoptosis (TUNEL, ratio Bax:Bcl-2), proliferation, oxidation, and inflammation in malignant radical prostatectomy tissue compared to water control using immunohistochemistry.
• to examine levels of tea polyphenols and methylated tea polyphenol metabolites in fresh frozen radical prostatectomy tissue and urine, urinary oxidative DNA damage (8OHdG) and serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels.

OUTLINE: This is a multicenter, randomized study. Patients are randomized to 1 of 3 treatment arms.

• Arm I: Patients receive 6 cups of green tea daily for 2-8 weeks in the absence of unacceptable toxicity.
• Arm II: Patients receive 6 cups of water daily for 2-8 weeks in the absence of unacceptable toxicity.
• Arm III: Patients receive 6 cups of decaffeinated black tea daily for 2-8 weeks in the absence of unacceptable toxicity.

Patients undergo radical prostatectomy.

Blood and urine samples, as well as tissue from diagnostic biopsy and radical prostatectomy specimens, are obtained for laboratory correlative studies. Samples are assessed by IHC, high-performance liquid chromatography, or mass spectrometry for changes in prostate tumor grade, stage, and margin status; concentrations of total and free tea polyphenols (i.e., EGCG, EC, EGC, ECG), theaflavins, and conjugated/colonic tea metabolites; biomarkers of prostate cancer development and progression (i.e., serum PSA, proliferation [i.e., Ki-67], apoptosis [i.e., TUNEL, Bax/Bcl-2 ratio], inflammation [i.e., NFkB]), and oxidative status (i.e., 8OhdG/dG ratio); and genotype and gene expression of metabolizing enzymes (i.e., COMT, UGT, and SULT). Serum samples are also assessed by ex vivo LNCaP cell culture assay for antiproliferative activity and by competitive chemiluminescent immunoassay for concentrations of PSA, IGF-1, IGFBP-3, testosterone, SHBG, and DHEA-sulfate.

Inclusion Criteria:

• subject consents to participate in the trial.
• subject is 40-75 years of age and has a diagnosis of adenocarcinoma of the prostate.
• Scheduled to undergo radical prostatectomy.
• The subject agrees to stop consumption of tea or tea-containing products throughout the entire intervention period except for the tea provided during study intervention.
• The subject agrees to stop consumption of dietary or vitamin supplements (e.g., lycopene, Vitamin E, selenium, genistein) or herbal supplements (e.g., saw palmetto, PC-SPES)

Exclusion Criteria:

• history of hepatitis or liver dysfunction
• ongoing alcohol abuse
• significant medical or psychiatric conditions that would make the patient a poor protocol candidate
• prior sensitivity or allergic reaction to tea, tea products, or tea supplements
• allergy or sensitivity to multiple food items or nutritional supplements
• concurrent luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonists, androgen receptor blocking agents, or finasteride
• prior bilateral orchiectomy

93 subjects completed the intervention (Arm I, GT: 34, Arm II, control: 33, Arm III, BT: 26).

Up to 8 weeks