A new study has disclosed that the active ingredient present in green tea - epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) - is really helpful in treating leukaemia patients.

The research, which was led by Mayo Clinic researchers, showed that patients could moderately accept high dosages of the chemical epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) as it lessens the size of swollen lymph glands by half.

Dr. Tait Shanafelt, Mayo Clinic hematologist and lead author of the study, said, "We found not only that patients tolerated the green tea extract at very high doses (in capsule form), but many of them saw regression to some degree of their chronic lymphocytic leukemia."

"The majority of individuals who entered the study with enlarged lymph nodes saw a 50 percent or greater decline in their lymph node size," Dr. Shanafelt added.

The researchers wish that EGCG can stabilize CLL for early stage patients or possibly improve the efficiency of treatment when blended with other treatments.

After getting success in the first test, scientists are conducting second phase trials on the same number of patients.

All the participants will get the highest dose administered from the previous trial.

The results of the study appeared online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

In 2004, the studies conducted on mice showed that epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) could destroy leukaemia cells.