MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS
It's not the kind of mushroom you'd want to eat with your dinner. But it may be the strongest kind to help fight cancer. New research focuses on a powerful fungus.
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Something in our forests could be the newest treatment for cancer. It grows here in the Pacific northwest and in many parts of Asia ... But you probably won't see it.
Jeff Novack, Ph.D.
Pharmacologist
Bastyr University
Seattle,WA
"As far as finding it growing, it's going to be pretty rare to find that."
It's called the turkey tail mushroom -- named for its resemblance to the bird. A new study at Seattle's Bastyr University looks at whether this mushroom has the power to treat or even prevent cancer.
Cynthia Wenner, Ph.D.
Immunologist
Bastyr University
Seattle, WA
"One of the reasons that we picked it is that preliminary data shows very encouraging evidence that it has very strong effects against cancer cells."
The turkey tail is already used to treat cancer in Asia. Researchers here in the U.S. will specifically look at how breast and prostate cancers respond to the mushroom. Since it's a fungus, our immune system naturally fights it off. But it may produce a strong enough reaction to also kill cancer.
Cynthia Wenner, Ph.D.
"It's actually tricking your body in a way to respond to the fungus, but the mushroom also is targeting the cancer cells for the immune cells to fight them off as well."
Researchers are using an extract of the mushroom for their study. They warn: don't go reaching for a bowl of turkey tail yourself. The mushroom is too tough to eat.
Doctors do say you can boil the mushroom and drink the broth, which may contain some healing properties. US researchers will try to determine whether the mushroom is more effective against certain cancers than others.
BACKGROUND: Scientists at Bastyr University in Kenmore, Wash. are studying the cancer-fighting properties of a fungus. The Trametes versicolor mushroom species, commonly known as "turkey tail," has long been used by herbal physicians in China and Japan. The fungus of interest is a bracket fungus, meaning it grows on the sides of logs or trees. It has no stem like a mushroom and feels tough like leather to the touch. It can be brown, white, tan, orange, red, or purple in color -- or all these colors at once. Turkey tail is not poisonous, but it is too tough for humans to eat. However, box turtles and gray squirrels love it.
NEW TREATMENTS: Researchers come up with new ways to fight cancer every year. Many of these new treatments don't work, but some become part of the oncologist's arsenal. In this case, researchers are leaving no log unturned in their search for a new medication. Turkey tail is already used to treat cancer in Asia, so researchers funded by the NIH wanted to find out if the fungus actually has cancer-fighting properties. One of the investigators, Cynthia Wenner, Ph.D., says stories of a turkey tail tea possibly helping someone's stomach cancer got Asian pharmaceutical companies interested. "In Asia, they're using it as an adjunctive or in combination with chemotherapy for fighting cancer," she says. She and her colleagues are now trying to find which active ingredients in the fungus stimulate a person's immune system and if the stimulation is enough to get the body to fight off cancer. "Tricking the body to think it needs to give a very strong response against the fungal infection," Wenner explains.
COOKING WITH MUSHROOMS: According to Wenner, you can get some of the health benefits mushrooms offer next time your family cooks dinner. Turkey tail may not be something you'd want to add to your beef stew, but "several of the mushroom species, such as shitake, oyster mushroom, button mushrooms, all of them have the same kind ... of anti-cancer, anti-viral effect, and they can very easily be part of your cooking," says Wenner. Since starting this study, she says she's developed a new appreciation for the benefits and taste of mushrooms.
DANGEROUS FUNGUS: Not all mushrooms can help fight cancer. There are some varieties that are so poisonous, just one mushroom can kill a grown man. Amanitas mushrooms contain the powerful toxin amanitin. An amanita starts as an egg-shaped button, which can resemble a small puffball. It eventually grows into a gilled mushroom with a parasol-shaped cap. One cap contains enough toxins to be deadly. Fungus experts also recommend staying away from all little brown mushrooms. Some are edible, but many are toxic or even hallucinogenic.
Kathleen Warren
Director of Medical Community Relations
Bastyr University
14500 Juanita Dr. NE
Kenmore, WA 98028-4966
(425) 602-3103
kwarren@bastyr.edu
Copyright © 2005 Ivanhoe Broadcast News, Inc.
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