Shiitake
Mushrooms
In Prostate Cancer Trial at UC
Pilot study, first U.S. human trial of Japanese
nutritional supplement
December 28, 1998. Investigators at UC Davis are studying
a nutritional supplement derived from mushrooms to see if it can reduce
tumor activity in men with prostate cancer.
The six-month pilot study is the first
human trial outside of Japan using the substance known as activated
hexose-containing compound, an active fraction found in shiitake mushrooms.
This substance has shown anti-cancer properties in some human, animal
and lab studies in Japan.
Activated hexose-containing compound is
also known as 1,3-beta glucan. The compound is sold in Japan, Europe
and the United States as a nutritional supplement. It has no known side
effects. The urology department at the UC Davis Medical Center is looking
for men in the Sacramento area who have been treated for prostate cancer
yet show rising levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA), a protein
secreted by the prostate gland.
In men who have been treated for prostate
cancer, an elevated PSA almost always signifies recurrence. Results
of the study, UC Davis Cancer Center's first complementary medicine
trial, will be used to help decide whether a double blind, placebo-controlled
study is warranted. No control group is being used in this initial phase.
"We decided to go ahead with the
study because the company which manufactures the mushroom extract has
intriguing data to back up its claims," says Ralph deVere White,
director of the UC Davis Cancer Center and co-principal investigator
of the study. "The manufacturers have defined the mechanism for
why it works. At the same time, we are treating it with the proper scientific
oversight."
Prostate cancer patients were selected
for the first study because of the ease of measuring the tumor marker
 elevated PSA, which shows up in a simple blood test. The men who participate
will have their PSA, weight, blood chemistry and other factors monitored
monthly.
The fungi extract is used in more than
400 hospitals in Japan and Asia as a complementary therapy for different
cancers. Almost 10,000 cancer patients take the supplement every day,
according to data compiled by the company which makes the supplement.
"We don't see it as a replacement for medical care, but if it works,
it could offer patients and their physicians more options," says
Robert Hackman, executive director of the Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine Research at UC Davis. Hackman is co-principal investigator
of the study.
Human studies of activated hexose-containing
compound conducted on cancer patients in Japanese hospitals showed some
positive results. In addition, a peer-reviewed article published in
the April 1998 issue of the journal Anti Cancer Drugs outlined animal
studies at Hokkaido University School of Medicine which indicated that
the compound may reduce tumor activity and lessen the side-effects of
cancer treatment. "The substance seems to act like a natural biological
response modifier, because it may increase the activity of natural killer
cells and cytokines, which boost the immune system," says deVere
White, who is chair of the urology department at the C Davis School
of Medicine.
Men in the study will take six grams of
the nutritional supplement per 50 kilograms of body weight. For the
average man, this works out to be anywhere from 16 to 25 gel caps of
activated hexose-containing compound daily with meals. But don't try
this at home, these doctors say  activated hexose-containing compound
doesn't come from the shiitake mushrooms that you can buy in the grocery
store, according to Hackman.
Spores of shiitake and other mushrooms
are cultivated in a high-tech factory in Sapporo until they sprout.
The partially mature mushroom spores are treated in liquid broth with
an enzyme which breaks down the cell wall and releases activated hexose-containing
compound. This substance is in turn dried and harvested. "It would
be very difficult for the average person to eat enough shiitake mushrooms
to get activated hexose-containing compound in their system," says
Hackman.
To be eligible for the study, men must
have been diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the prostate and have had
either a radical prostatectomy or radiation therapy with rising PSA;
metastatic prostate cancer with no hormone treatment therapy; or metastatic
prostate cancer that has failed hormone therapy. It is also open to
men with elevated PSAs who do not want to pursue conventional medical
therapy. The study will begin in late January. Results should be known
within the year
December 28, 1998
PSA
Rising
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