Printer FriendlyThe Green Tea Chemotherapeutic Research Program is a multidisciplinary resource committed to developing alternative therapies based on natural products and utilizing environmentally benign synthetic protocols for the treatment of cancer.
The synthetic protocol currently used for producing certain key anticancer drugs involves the use of large amounts of highly toxic chemicals and solvents that are extremely carcinogenic. Green tea flavonoids, used here as starting materials, are readily available/ renewable and are polymerized using “green” methodologies to yield highly active and stable products that are biocompatible and can be tolerated by humans to much higher dose levels as compared to commercial drugs. The polymers developed exhibit selective growth inhibitory effects toward a wide range of cancer cells including human breast, head and neck squamous carcinomas and colorectal adenocarcinomas.
The Center for Advanced Materials (CAM) is a multidisciplinary research center with a firm commitment towards the proliferation of knowledge on the design, synthesis, characterization and processing of a wide variety of organic, inorganic and polymeric materials. CAM has rich and wide expertise in the development of novel functional materials and in the area of enzyme catalysis. Over the past decade, CAM has a track record of developing commercially viable technologies that are now licensed to companies such as Polnox (enzymatically synthesized polymeric antioxidants) and Konarka Technologies Inc. (organic and hybrid-based photovoltaics).
Our green tea chemotherapeutic research effort is sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency( EPA), the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) and Chancellor's seed Grant.