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The
use of mushroom glucans and proteoglycans in cancer treatment
Kidd
PM
Immunoceuticals can be considered as substances having immunotherapeutic
efficacy when taken orally.
More than 50 mushroom species have yielded potential
immunoceuticals that exhibit anticancer activity in vitro or in animal models
and of these, six have been investigated in human cancers.
All are non-toxic and
very well tolerated.
Lentinan and schizophyllan have little oral activity.
Active Hexose Correlated Compound (AHCC) is poorly defined but has shown early
clinical promise.
Maitake D-Fraction has limited proof of clinical efficacy to
date, but controlled research is underway.
Two proteoglycans from Coriolus
versicolor - PSK (Polysaccharide-K) and PSP (Polysaccharide-Peptide) - have
demonstrated the most promise.
In Japanese trials since 1970, PSK significantly
extended survival at five years or beyond in cancers of the stomach,
colon-rectum, esophagus, nasopharynx, and lung (non-small cell types), and in a
HLA B40-positive breast cancer subset.
PSP was subjected to Phase II and Phase
III trials in China.
In double-blind trials, PSP significantly extended
five-year survival in esophageal cancer.
PSP significantly improved quality of
life, provided substantial pain relief, and enhanced immune status in 70-97
percent of patients with cancers of the stomach, esophagus, lung, ovary, and
cervix.
PSK and PSP boosted immune cell production, ameliorated chemotherapy
symptoms, and enhanced tumor infiltration by dendritic and cytotoxic T-cells.
Their extremely high tolerability, proven benefits to survival and quality of
life, and compatibility with chemotherapy and radiation therapy makes them well
suited for cancer management regimens.
PMID: 10696116 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Source:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10696116&dopt=Abstract
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