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Cancer Monthly News and CancerWire
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Greetings!
Recently a number of research studies have
concluded that various forms of mushrooms, fungi
and related herbs may be of value in managing
cancer. In this edition of CancerWire we focus on
three such studies. We begin, however, with a new
study that explores how the sun may help prevent
cancer.
Disclaimer - Please Read: None of
the information in CancerWire is a
substitute for professional medical advice,
examination, diagnosis or treatment and you
should always seek the advice of your
physician or other qualified health
professional before starting any new
treatment or making any changes to an
existing treatment. No information contained
in Cancer Monthly or CancerWire including the
information below, should be used to
diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease
without the supervision of a medical
doctor.
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Cancer, Vitamin D, and Sunshine
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Getting enough vitamin D can significantly reduce the
risk of several different types of cancer, and ecological
studies performed over the past decade have
confirmed
that sun exposure is a critical source of this vitamin,
according to a recent report in Annals of Epidemiology.
Researchers have been looking at the connection
between vitamin D from sunlight and cancer risk since
1980, when researchers Cedric and Frank Garland
looked at geographic maps of cancer deaths and
found that mortality from colon cancer was highest in
places where residents got the least amount of sun
exposure (such as in high latitudes).
William B. Grant, PhD., Director of the Sunlight,
Nutrition, and Health Research Center (SUNARC) in
San Francisco, California, has been one of the
foremost researchers on vitamin D and cancer
incidence since 2000. In a 2002 study, he identified 14
different types of cancers that were linked to
insufficient UVB exposure, and estimated that
between 17,000 and 23,000 people die prematurely
each year in the U.S. due to a lack of vitamin D from
the sun.
The strongest associations between vitamin D from
the sun and cancer have been with colon and breast
cancers, but links have also been found with non-
Hodgkin lymphoma, ovarian cancer, and kidney
cancer. Studies have also connected vitamin D to a
reduced incidence of other diseases, such as colds
and flu, coronary heart disease, stroke, and
congestive heart failure.
People can get vitamin D in two ways: from the diet (in
foods such as salmon, milk, and eggs) and through
sunlight exposure (the skin produces vitamin D when
exposed to the sun's UVB rays). Yet diet supplies only
about 200 to 300 IU of vitamin D each day; a fraction of
the recommended dose for cancer prevention,
according to Dr. Grant. "The amount of vitamin D in
diet is just not sufficient to have an impact, he says.
The sun is a much more potent source of vitamin
D. "In the United States in the summer, people can
make 1,500 IU of vitamin D just from casual [sun]
exposure," Dr. Grant says. For people who are
relatively young, as little as five to 10 minutes of
midday sun exposure without sunscreen is enough to
produce the 4,000 IU of vitamin D he recommends
daily for disease prevention. Those who are over age
60 may need to spend a few extra minutes outside
each day because their bodies don't produce the
vitamin as efficiently.
Despite the mounting evidence that a few minutes of
daily sun worshipping is good for the health,
dermatologists and cancer investigators have been at
odds when it comes to sun advice. For years,
dermatologists have been warning Americans to stay
out of the sun when possible, and to wear sunscreen
when exposed, to avoid developing melanoma-the
deadliest form of skin cancer. Yet Dr. Grant says
melanomas tend to be caused by UVA rays, which are
highest during the morning hours, rather than the
cancer-protective UVB rays, which increase at around
1 p.m. "You go out for a shorter time at midday and
make your vitamin D, and then cover up," he advises.
During the winter months or in more northern climates
where sun exposure is generally lower, Dr. Grant
advises taking vitamin D supplements to ensure that
you're getting enough.
To learn more about getting the optimum levels of
vitamin D for your individual situation talk to your
licensed healthcare provider.
Source:
Grant WB, Mohr SB. Ecological studies of ultraviolet B,
vitamin D and cancer since 2000. Annals of
Epidemiology, 2009.
Other sources:
Garland CF, Garland FC. Do sunlight and vitamin D
reduce the likelihood of colon cancer? International
Journal of Epidemiology. 1980;9:227-231.
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Cancer and Ganoderma
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The Chinese herb Ganoderma kills small-cell lung
cancer cells that are resistant to many chemotherapy
drugs, and it may prove a life-saving addition to
current cancer therapy, according to a new study in
Cancer Letters.
Small-cell lung cancer is particularly difficult to treat
because the cancer spreads rapidly throughout the
body, rather than forming large tumors that can be
removed surgically. To treat this cancer, doctors
typically turn to chemotherapy, which attacks cancer
cells throughout the body.
Chemotherapy can have severe side effects though,
because it attacks healthy cells as well as cancerous
ones. And over time, lung cancer can become
resistant to the effects of chemotherapy, rendering it
virtually ineffective. "The chemotherapy would still
work, but you'd have to use a dose that would be so
toxic that the patient could not tolerate it," explains lead
study author David Sadava, PhD, Pritzker Foundation
Professor of Biology at the Keck Science Center in
Claremont, California and Adjunct Professor in the
Department of Molecular Medicine at the City of Hope
Cancer Center in Duarte, California.
Patients who have been told their cancer is not
treatable often turn to alternative therapies, including
herbs. The mushroom extract Ganoderma lucidum is
one of the most popular of these herbs. It is widely
available in health food stores as the Japanese
herbal remedy, Reishi and the Chinese herb, Ling Zhi.
Ganoderma lucidum has been studied for its effects
on leukemia, as well as on cancers of the breast,
bladder, colon, and prostate. For the first time, Dr.
Sadava and his team set out to investigate its effects
on small-cell lung cancer. They also decided to look at
20 of the more than 250 other Ganoderma species in
existence, to see if they too might have a benefit.
The researchers took extracts of these herbs and
tested them on three different types of cells: drug-
sensitive small-cell lung cancer, drug-resistant small-
cell lung cancer, and normal lung cells. They
discovered that Ganoderma lucidum, as well as eight
other Ganoderma species killed lung cancer cells.
Cancer cells responded to the herb much in the same
way as they would react to chemotherapy drugs. Yet
unlike chemotherapy drugs, which can also be toxic to
healthy cells, herbal extracts were more deadly to
cancer cells than to normal cells, indicating that they
have some ability to specifically target cancer.
Treating the cancer cells with Ganoderma extract
before administering chemotherapy drugs made the
cancer more sensitive to treatment, which could
potentially lower the effective dose of chemotherapy
enough for patients to tolerate it, Dr. Sadava says.
Ganoderma won't replace current therapies for small-
cell lung cancer, but it can work in conjunction with
chemotherapy to increase its effectiveness. Dr.
Sadava believes that new treatments to combat lung
cancer will be available in the near future, but in the
meantime, "You have to do something as a transition
measure to help these patients who are dying," he
says. "This herb, which is widely available and widely
used, and has no side effects that we know of, should
be considered for people who have drug-resistant
lung cancer, along with chemotherapy."
If you are interested in learning more about
Ganoderma talk to your licensed healthcare
practitioner.
Source:
Sadava D, Still DW, Mudry RR, Kane SE. Effect of
Ganoderma on drug-sensitive and multidrug-resistant
small-cell lung carcinoma cells. Cancer Letters. 2009.
Epub ahead of print.
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Prostate Cancer and White Button Mushroom
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In their quest to find new ways to fight cancer,
researchers are increasingly turning to nature. They're
discovering that many of the vegetables we regularly
consume in our diet -notably mushrooms-are
potent cancer killers. A new study in the journal
Nutrition and Cancer finds that the white button
mushroom is particularly effective against prostate
cancer.
A number of different mushroom species have been
investigated for their cancer-fighting properties. "I think
mushrooms, and especially medicinal mushrooms,
are being used to prevent cancer because they
potentially have the ability to affect immune function in
our bodies," says study author Shiuan Chen, PhD,
Professor and Director of the Division of Tumor Cell
Biology at the Beckman Research Institute of the City
of Hope in Duarte, California.
In previous studies, Dr. Chen and his colleagues
discovered that the white button mushroom was
effective at suppressing the spread of breast cancer
cells. For this study, the researchers again focused on
the white button mushroom, but this time for its
potential effect on prostate cancer cells.
Although it hasn't been as well studied as medicinal
mushrooms, the white button mushroom has the
advantage of being edible, which makes it ideal for
studying dietary cancer interventions, according to Dr.
Chen. White button mushrooms contain a healthy fatty
acid called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which is
believed to be one of the active components
responsible for halting cancer cell growth.
During this study, the researchers investigated the
effects of a white button mushroom extract on prostate
cancer cell lines in the laboratory, and in mice injected
with prostate cancer. When prostate cancer cells in
the lab were treated with the mushroom extract for a
period of four days, the cancer spread was markedly
reduced compared to untreated cells, and an
increased number of cancer cells died. The higher the
dose of mushroom extract, the greater the effect on
the cancer cells. The mushroom extract appeared to
work equally well on both hormone-dependent and
hormone-independent prostate cancers.
When mice with prostate cancer were fed the
mushroom extract, their tumors shrank by as much as
68 percent compared to the control mice. The extract
also significantly slowed the cancer spread and
triggered the process of programmed cancer cell
death (apoptosis). The researchers discovered that
CLA helped inhibit the spread of cancer cells, but Dr.
Chen says other active substances in the mushroom
were also likely involved in its biological activity.
Now that a strong anti-cancer effect has been noted in
the laboratory and in mice, the next step is to test out
white button mushrooms in human clinical trials.
Human studies have begun at City of Hope, according
to Dr. Chen. Participants are prostate cancer patients
who have not responded to surgery, hormone therapy,
or other standard treatments. The studies will try to
determine whether the mushroom extract can slow
the rise of prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-a marker
of prostate cancer growth-and pinpoint the most
effective dosage.
Although Dr. Chen cautions that this research is still
preliminary, and dietary interventions should never
take the place of standard prostate cancer treatments,
he says this study adds to the growing evidence that
adding white button mushrooms to the diet may help
protect men against prostate cancer.
Source:
Adams LS, Phung S, Wu X, Ki L, Chen S. White button
mushroom (Agaricus Bisporus) exhibits
antiproliferative and propapoptopic properties and
inhibits prostate tumor growth in athymic mice.
Nutrition and Cancer. 2008;60:744-756.
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Cancer and Oyster Mushroom
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A common ingredient in many Chinese stir fry dishes
is also a potentially powerful cancer fighter, according
to a recent study published in the International Journal
of Oncology. Researchers have discovered that the
oyster mushroom can significantly inhibit the growth of
colon and breast cancer cells without harming healthy
cells.
Past studies have found that mushrooms have a
number of therapeutic benefits, including promoting
the immune system and preventing cancer
development. Several research efforts have already
looked at the effects of various inedible medicinal
mushroom extracts on cancer cells.
For the current study, researchers wanted to focus on
edible mushrooms. Because these mushrooms are
available in any grocery store, they might one day play
an important role in cancer prevention, according to
lead author Daniel Sliva, PhD, Senior Investigator in
the Cancer Research Laboratory at Methodist
Research Institute in Indianapolis. The oyster
mushroom is one of the most common edible
mushrooms in the world, and it has been found to
have both antioxidant and antitumor properties.
When Dr. Sliva tested an extract from this mushroom
on two of the most common and deadly cancers --
breast and colon cancer -- the oyster mushroom
halted the growth of even the most invasive cancers.
The higher the dose and the longer the mushroom
extract was applied, the greater the effect on cancer
cells.
The researchers discovered that the oyster
mushroom extract works by interfering with the cancer
cell cycle. By stopping this cycle at a specific phase,
the mushroom prevents the cancer cells from
spreading, says Dr. Sliva. It also alters the size and
shape of the cancer cells, which prevents them from
growing and pushes them to a type of programmed
cell death called apoptosis. Another of its effects is to
decrease the production of certain proteins, which are
abnormally over-expressed by cancer cells. "With the
mushrooms we can actually modulate this
microenvironment in cells so that these cancer cells
can behave like normal cells," says Dr. Sliva.
While the oyster mushroom attacks cancer cells, it
spares healthy cells because it targets cellular
mechanisms that are specific to cancer. "I think that
this mushroom contains some special molecules,
which are able to attack signaling pathways that are
over-activated specifically in cancer cells," Dr. Sliva
says. "In normal cells those pathways are not over-
activated."
Because oyster mushrooms are all natural, they can
be taken in relatively high doses without triggering
unwanted side effects-a clear advantage over many
current cancer therapies.
Laboratory studies done so far with the oyster
mushroom have been very promising, and the results
of animal studies are set to be released in the near
future. The next step is to try out the mushroom extract
in human clinical trials. "If we can show an effect at the
molecular level and confirm it in animal studies, this
would really be a help to human health," Dr. Sliva says.
If you are interested in learning more about
Ganoderma talk to your licensed healthcare
practitioner.
Source:
Jedinak A, Sliva D. Pleurotus ostreatus inhibits
proliferation of human breast and colon cancer cells
through p53-dependent as well as p53-independent
pathway. International Journal of Oncology.
2008;33:1307-1313.
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