The findings, to be
presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American
Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).
Dr Tait Shanafelt,
hematologist and lead author of the study, said:
"Although only a comparative phase III trial can
determine whether EGCG can delay progression of CLL, the
benefits we have seen in most CLL patients who use the
chemical suggest that it has modest clinical activity
and may be useful for stabilising this form of leukaemia,
potentially slowing it down."
All of the patients were
at the early stages of the disease and were not showing
symptoms so they would not be receiving treatment for
their cancer, the researchers said.
CLL often develops
slowly with periods of remission when patients can
simply be observed without treatment.
There are around 7,400
people diagnosed with leukaemia in Britain a year and in
around one third of cases it is a CLL.
