HEALTH 10:48 AEST Mon 19 Aug 2002
Research
in the Far East on the healing properties of some mushrooms could lead to new
methods of treatment and prevention of cancer in the West, a report by a
leading health charity said on Monday.
Cancer
Research UK has produced what it describes as the world’s most comprehensive
review of information about the way medicinal mushrooms are used in Japan,
China and South Korea.
In
these countries it has been reported that mushrooms have anti-tumor properties
and can stimulate the immune system to fight disease.
Evidence
is also revealed from research in the Far East suggesting that medicinal
mushrooms can help reduce side effects from radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and
improve the quality of life for patients in the advanced stages of cancer.
Dr
Richard Sullivan, head of clinical programmes 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.
Some
trials in Japan, China and, more recently in the US, have indicated that
chemical compounds derived from medicinal mushrooms can prolong survival of
cancer patients.
However,
there is concern that standards of trials in the East may not meet Western
regulatory requirements.
“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,” Dr Sullivan said.
Professor
John Smith from the University of Strathclyde, who led the review, said there
was increasing evidence that medicinal mushrooms offered medicinally important
compounds that had yet to be evaluated by Western medical scientists.
“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 said.
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.
More
than 100 types of mushroom are documented by Chinese medicine practitioners as
treatments for a wide range of illnesses, and many mushroom-derived medicinal
products are manufactured by Oriental pharmaceutical companies.
Sir Paul
Nurse, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said the information about the
apparent benefits of mushrooms was “very interesting”.
“More
work needs to be done on how mushrooms can be used in Western medicine.”
This
report gives weight to the argument for clinical trials to be set up to try to
validate research done in other parts of the world, which may not have met all
the criteria laid down in western medicine,” he said.