At a glance

What are mushroom immunoceuticals? Can they be used with conventional cancer treatments? How effective are immunoceuticals?

Immunoceuticals are dietary supplements that have an immune-boosting effect. They are used in conjunction with conventional cancer therapies.
Mushroom immunoceuticals stimulate dendritic cells – which activate the immune system, natural killer cells and cytokine production.
Lentinan (Lentinus edodes aka shiitake mushroom) has powerful anti-tumour activity.
Schizophyllan (Schizophyllum commune) improves the survival rates of patients with head and neck cancers.
PSK is used for stomach, oesophageal and lung cancers. It has anti-metastatic and anti-oxidant actions that improve patient survival rates.

Can mushrooms help treat cancer?

Kizzy Gandy

08 December 2009. Posted by WellBeing Natural Health & Living News

Lentinan

Lentinan is produced from Lentinus edodes, which is also known as the shiitake mushroom, or “oak mushroom”, and is usually grown outdoors on oak logs in forests. However, because it takes three to five years before the mushrooms can be harvested, a more intensive cultivation technique has recently been developed that involves synthetic logs, sawdust and agricultural by-products. The shiitake is largely grown in Japan, China and South Korea and accounts for 10 per cent of the world’s production of cultivated mushrooms. It is the most researched mushroom with regard to its immunological activity.

“Take” is Japanese for mushroom and “shii” refers to the shii tree (Quercus cuspidata), an oak of central and southern Japan on which the shiitake most often grows. In China, the shiitake’s history dates back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). The mushroom was not only used as a food but also taken as a remedy for upper respiratory diseases, poor blood circulation, liver trouble, exhaustion and weakness, and to boost chi (life energy). It was also believed to prevent premature ageing.

In 1969, Tetsuro Ikekawa of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, with the aid of colleagues at the National Cancer Center Research Institute in Tokyo, was the first person to research the anti-tumour effect of the shiitake mushroom. The researchers found that extracts of the shiitake and several other mushrooms collected in the wild produced high rates (72 to 92 per cent) of tumour inhibition in mice. Ikekawa later identified a polysaccharide in the shiitake — Lentinan — as having powerful anti-tumour activity.

Clinical studies indicate that Lentinan can assist in prolonging the life of patients with gastric or colorectal cancer; however, because the molecules of Lentinan are extremely large, it cannot be absorbed and utilised by the body when taken orally. Lentinan therefore needs to be injected.

Schizophyllan

Schizophyllan, from Schizophyllum commune, is also ineffective when taken orally, so it is usually injected into muscle. Schizophyllan has been found to be rather ineffective against gastric cancer, but it has been shown to assist in extending the survival time of patients with head and neck cancers. In cervical cancer trials, Schizophyllan was most effective when it was injected directly into the tumour mass.

Active Hexose Correlated Compound

Active Hexose Correlated Compound (AHCC) is a proprietary (undisclosed) extract from several species of mushroom, including the shiitake. Unlike Lentinan and Schizophyllan, this extract is effective when taken orally and preliminary research indicates that AHCC has anti-cancer activity.

The AHCC Research Association was formed in Japan in 1996 to foster the development of AHCC as an anti-cancer therapy. Reports from the association claim that out of the 300 cancer patients given AHCC, 58 were effectively treated, with 46 showing complete or partial regression and 12 experiencing no further increase in tumour size. Among these 58 cases were cancers of the lung, breast, stomach, oesophagus, colon, liver and several other sites. Research on AHCC is still at a comparatively early stage and further investigation is required before its effectiveness can be declared.

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