The same green tea that beverage manufacturers raise awareness for with quirky commercials may also help limit the growth of leukemia, according to a new study.

Researchers at Mayo Clinic have been conducting a trial of the effects of epigallocatchin gallate, a component of green tea, in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

According to the scientists, CLL has no cure although it is the most common subset of leukemia, but they say that there are promising results from their experiments with EGCG.

They found that even at high doses, side effects were not pronounced among the 33 patients who received EGCG therapies, up to about 2 grams worth of the treatment.

"The majority of individuals who entered the study with enlarged lymph nodes saw a 50 percent or greater decline in their lymph node size," noted lead author Dr Tait Shanafelt, a hematologist at the Mayo Clinic.

A new trial has already begun, which will test the efficacy of the highest doses tolerated, about 2,000 mg, in patients with the disease, and the scientists say they are hopeful that the treatment will limit the progression of CLL when it is caught in its early stages.