The team from the Mayo Clinic in the US found it appeared to improve the condition of four patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL).
Experts said the Leukaemia Research journal study was interesting but more research was needed.
The Mayo researchers decided to try green tea after a test tube study in 2004 showed it killed leukaemia cells.
Four CLL patients being treated at the clinic took green tea extract tablets containing epigallocatechin gallate, an antioxidant thought to fight cancer cells.
Within a few months, doctors realized that three out of four patients were showing signs of the cancer regressing.
The fourth patient also showed a slight improvement, but it was not judged to be clinically relevant.
Report author Tait Shanafelt said: "Green tea has long been thought to have cancer-prevention capabilities. It is exciting that research is now demonstrating this agent may provide new hope for CLL patients.
"The experience of these individuals provides some suggestion that our previously published laboratory findings may actually translate into clinical effects for patients with this disease."
BBCNews.com
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