Fungus Might Trick Body Into Fighting Cancer

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Fungus Might Trick Body Into Fighting Cancer

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/health/edell/052505_he_mushroom.html

(ABC7)

May 25 (ABC7) — It's not the kind of mushroom you'd want to eat

with

your dinner, but it may help fight cancer. New research is focusing

on a powerful fungus.

Watch this report

Research Summary

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Fungus Might Trick Body Into Fighting Cancer

Something in our forests could be the newest treatment for cancer.

It grows in the Pacific Northwest and in many parts of Asia, but you

probably won't see it.

Jeff Novack, Ph.D. pharmacologist: " As far as finding it growing,

it's going to be pretty rare to find that. "

It's called the turkey tail mushroom, and is named for its

resemblance to the bird. A new study looks at whether this mushroom

has the power to treat - or even prevent - cancer.

Wenner, Ph.D. immunologist: " 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. "

It's not all that surprising that a wild mushroom could be the

source of our next cancer drug. After all, lots of our major drugs

come from plants. Digitalis comes from the foxglove plant - that's

good for your heart. And the cancer fighter tamoxifen comes from

trees.

So far, the turkey tail is already used to treat cancer in Asia.

Researchers here in the US 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.

Wenner, Ph.D. immunologist: " 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 to not go reaching for a bowl of turkey tail to eat on

your own. The mushroom is too tough to eat.

US researchers are trying to determine if the mushroom is more

effective against certain cancers than others.

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