Green Tea Extract in Treating Current or Former Smokers With Bronchial Dysplasia

OBJECTIVES: Primary * To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Polyphenon E, a defined green tea catechin extract, in current or former smokers with bronchial dysplasia and increased inflammatory load as measured by C-reactive protein. Secondary * To evaluate the ability of Polyphenon E to modulate other surrogate endpoint biomarkers of oxidation stress, inflammation, aberrant methylation, cell cycle regulation, apoptosis, oncogene/tumor suppressor gene expression, as well as phase I and II enzyme regulation in biological samples from these patients. * To establish a library of optical coherent tomography (OCT) images of the bronchial epithelium with corresponding histopathology, nuclear morphometry, and other biomarker information. * To assess the potential of OCT as a non-biopsy method for evaluating chemoprevention agents. OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Patients are stratified by gender. Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms. * Arm I: Patients receive oral Polyphenon E twice daily for 3 months in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. * Arm II: Patients receive a placebo twice daily for 3 months in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients undergo standard white-light bronchoscopy and fluorescence bronchoscopy with optical coherence tomography (OCT) at baseline and at 3 months. During these procedures, patients are evaluated using the Onco-LIFE clinical device, which digitally records OCT images of abnormal areas or areas suspicious for intraepithelial neoplasia or invasive carcinoma. Once these areas have been localized, patients are biopsied under fluorescence bronchoscopy guidance to obtain both dysplastic bronchial epithelial tissue and normal bronchial mucosa. Biopsy specimens are examined by immunostaining for tissue-based biomarkers (i.e., Ki-67, cleaved caspase-3, p53, and VEGF). Patients also undergo oral brushing, bronchial brushing, and bronchoalveolar lavage at baseline and at 3 months to obtain bronchial epithelial cells for differential gene expression and methylation biomarker studies (e.g., cDNA microarray analysis, polymerase chain reaction, and northern blotting). Cytokines and other molecular biomarkers (i.e., C-reactive protein, surfactant protein D, oxidized glutathione, interleukin \[IL\]-6, IL-13, and macrophage inflammatory protein-1 levels) are measured in blood and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples by enzyme-linked immunoassay. Plasma EGCG levels are assessed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Urine cotinine levels and exhaled carbon monoxide levels are also assessed. After completion of study therapy, patients are followed at 1 month.