Potential for cancer treatment 'mushrooms' with new research

Research on the healing properties of some mushrooms could lead to new methods of treatment and prevention of cancer, reports Ananova.com.

Cancer Research UK has produced a review of information about the way medicinal mushrooms are used in Japan, China and South Korea.

In these countries it is thought that mushrooms have anti-tumour properties and can stimulate the immune system to fight disease.

Evidence from research in the Far East suggests medicinal mushrooms can help reduce side-effects from radiotherapy and chemotherapy. It is also claimed they can improve the quality of life for patients in the advanced stages of cancer.

A spokesman for Cancer Research UK said the information suggested that compounds derived from mushrooms could have a "hugely beneficial influence" on the way cancer is treated.

Trials in Japan, China and, more recently in the US, have indicated chemical compounds derived from medicinal mushrooms can prolong survival of cancer patients.

"We hope that with the publication of this report more western cancer doctors will be encouraged to set up trials to assess the potential of these compounds in treating cancer,"​ said the spokesman.

Professor John Smith from the University of Strathclyde, who led the review, told Ananova: "Evidence suggests that exotic mushrooms - such as the shiitake, enoke and oyster varieties which are used in many modern recipes - have major dietary benefits."​

"But while the large flat mushroom and the button variety found in most shops are highly nutritious, there is no documented evidence that they have the exotic mushroom's special medicinal properties,"​ he added.

A 14-year survey of Japanese mushroom workers in the Nagano Prefecture suggested that a regular diet of edible medicinal mushrooms was linked with a lower death rate from cancer. The average cancer death rate in the prefecture was one in 600, but the rate dropped to one in 1,000 among farmers who produced edible mushrooms.