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Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Professor Lars Herfindal, Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen
- Second opponent: Senior Consultant Cecilie Hveding Blimark, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Professor Trine Bjøro, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Professor II Bjørn Moum, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Professor II Geir Hetland, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo
Summary
Extracts from the Basidiomycota mushroom Agaricus blazei Murill (AbM) are widely used in alternative medicine, especially for the prevention and treatment of cancer. The commercial mushroom product AndosanTM, which contains 82,4% of Agaricus, has earlier been shown to have an anti-inflammatory effect in healthy volunteers. On this background we wanted to investigate if this product may have a role in the treatment of certain cancers where immune activation plays a central role, like multiple myeloma and intestinal cancer. In order to study the immunological effects of AndosanTM in multiple myeloma we investigated 40 patients scheduled to receive high dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell support. Nineteen of the patients were randomized to receive AndosanTM 60 ml daily in addition to chemotherapy, while 21 patients received placebo (water with added color). In the patient group receiving AndosanTM increased levels of the cytokines IL-1ra, IL-5 and IL-7 in the serum, and of the cellular subgroups Treg and plasmocyte derived dendritic cells in the stem cell product, were found at the end of the study. These changes may have had an influence on the treatment result. However, the number of patients included in the study was not sufficient to reveal statistically significant survival differences.
Further laboratory studies showed that AndosanTM also had a cytotoxic effect on human myeloma cells in culture.
Furthermore, additional investigations showed that AndosanTM had an inhibiting effect on the developement of intestinal tumors in mice and a cytotoxic effect on human cancer colon cells in culture.
Taken together, these studies indicate that AndosanTM has a biological effect in cancer. In order to further clarify if AndosanTM may have a potential in patient treatment it will necessary to determine further it’s mechanisms of actions and also to conduct larger patient studies.
Additional information
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