A cup of green tea has been long though to ward off certain cancers. Now a new study from the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) claims to have discovered how exactly that happens.

Pancreatic cancer is poised to become the second-deadliest cancer in the coming decades, falling only behind lung cancer. Unlike more treatable forms of cancer, such as breast cancer and skin cancer, pancreatic cancer is much harder to detects, the Medical Daily reported.

Dr. Wai-Nang Lee, corresponding author and lead researcher at LA BioMed and his team found that EGCG, the primary antioxidant in green tea, changed the metabolism of pancreatic cancer cells by suppressing the expression of an enzyme, LDHA, associated with cancer. They also found an enzyme inhibitor, known as oxamate, which reduced LDHA in the same way. This suggested that EGCG and oxamate played dual roles in suppressing cancer cell metabolism.