Cendawan

Mushroom Extracts

Several species of higher fungi have been used traditionally as well as in modern times in the treatment of cancer. The most commonly used medicinal mushrooms are Trametes versicolor (Turkey Tail, formerly Coriolus versicolor), Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi), Lentinus edodes, Grifola frondosa (Maitake), and Schizophyllum commune. Because of their broad immune activity, medicinal mushrooms are usually prescribed because of their immunomodulation activity. While other natural products from other plant species have known immunomodulatory activities, polysaccharides extracted from certain mushroom species have been the most thoroughly studied in pre-clinical and clinical studies.

Ganoderma (REISHI), Shiitake, Maiitake

These are mushrooms that have shown promising results as adjunctive therapy in pre-clinical research. However, lack of clear clinical data precludes us from recommending these extracts.

Trametes Versicolor

Trametes versicolor (T. versicolor), also known as Coriolus versicolor or Polyporus versicolor, has a long history of medical use in Asia dating back hundreds of years in traditional Asian medicine. It is the most widely studied of all medicinal mushrooms and there is a wealth of data published in Asia about its immune-modulatory effects, including clinical trials.

Efficacy

Trametes versicolor, has been assessed in phase I, II, and III randomized clinical trials in stomach, colorectal, esophageal, and breast cancer patients. Several clinical studies report significant immunologic and/or oncologic benefit of these fractions as adjunctive therapy in lung cancer patients gastrointestinal cancers, and breast cancer.

Clinical trials using active fractions of Trametes (namely PSK and PSP) published in Japan and Korea suggest that T. versicolor polysaccharide-peptide constituents improve disease-free and overall survival in several different types of cancer, including stomach, esophagus, lung, colorectal, prostate, and breast adenocarcinomas. In Japan, PSK is a therapy prescribed to cancer patients routinely, both during and after radiation and chemotherapy, and it is a cancer therapy approved by the Japanese National Health Registry. However, no clinical trials have yet been carried out in the US.

Safety

Toxicological assessments indicate that PSK and PSP have low toxicity with no reports of abnormalities in animals or humans following acute and chronic toxicity tests.

Recommendations

The strong clinical data for PSK / Trametes versicolor warrants its inclusion in secondary prevention planning and is routinely prescribed for cancer patients after completion of primary cancer treatment to restore and improve immune function. Many of the controlled trials conducted in Japan used PSK concurrently with chemotherapy showing improved outcomes relative to those cancer patients who received standard treatment alone. Several U.S companies make PSK-like medicinal mushroom products. Many integrative oncologists prescribe 3000-4500 mg of PSK™ or similar products after chemotherapy and radiation to restore immune status.

http://depts.washington.edu/integonc/clinicians/act/mushroom_extracts.shtml