Turkey tail mushrooms effective in prostate cancer: study

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDMay 26 2011

Preliminary studies have shown that mushrooms used in Asia for medicinal purposes vanquished prostate tumor successfully in mice.

According to senior research fellow Patrick Ling, “Polysaccharopeptide (PSP), a compound extracted from the “Turkey tail” mushroom, was found to target prostate cancer stem cells and suppress their formation in mice.” Ling, from the Institute for Biomedical Health and Innovation (IHBI) at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) added that the results could be an important step towards fighting a disease that kills 3,000 Australian men a year, reports the journal Public Library of Science ONE or PLoS One. He explained, “What we wanted to demonstrate was whether that compound could stop the development of prostate tumors in the first place…In the past, other inhibitors tested in research trials have been shown to be up to 70 per cent effective, but we're seeing 100 per cent of this tumor prevented from developing with PSP. Importantly, we did not see any side effects from the treatment.” Ling said, “Conventional therapies were only effective in targeting certain cancer cells, not cancer stem cells, which initiated cancer and caused the disease to progress.”

The study was in collaboration with the University of Hong Kong and Provital Pty Ltd. For the study transgenic mice that developed prostate tumors were fed PSP for 20 weeks. Ling said, “No tumors were found in any of the mice fed PSP, whereas mice not given the treatment developed prostate tumors…The research suggested that PSP treatment could completely inhibit prostate tumor formation.”