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Mushroom Preparations in Combined Antitumor Treatment

Based on our previous experience and on literature data, we determined the effects of extracts from authentic mushrooms found in the Republic of Croatia, on defined cultures of normal and tumor cells and then on experimental models of tumor growth in vivo. The project is supported by the Ministry of Sciences, Education, and Sport of the Republic of Croatia. The intention of this project is: • to isolate mushroom extract destroying tumor cells but not normal cells ; • to determine the composition of active component(s) in extracts by using modern analytical methods (NMR, spectrometry) to standardize the products, objectively intending to obtain effective components and, further, to create the most successive extract combination with pronounced antitumor effects ; • to investigate the influence of mushroom preparations obtained on the growth of tumor transplanted in experimental mice, as the only treatment, or in combination with surgery, radiotherapy, and/or chemotherapy ; • to determine the dynamics of immunological parameters in treated tumorbearing animals ; • to prepare the products, defined as described, for clinical evaluation. Mushroom preparations were obtained by extraction in boiling water for 24 hours. Until now, the effects of Cantharellus cibarius, Ganoderma lucidum, Meripilus giganteus, Fomes fomentarius, and Pleurotus ostreatus (which is the 1st contingent of cca 30 mushroom species to be tested) on tumor cells in vitro were investigated. We have shown that the incorporation of radioactive 3H thymidine in tumor cells (mouse squamous cell carcinoma SCCVII, fibrosarcoma FsaR, and melanoma B16F1) was inhibited in the presence of particular mushroom preparation and the effect was dose-dependent. The application of mushroom preparation to mice bearing the tumor (mentioned above) could significantly influence their survival. Furthermore, in tumor-bearing mice, mushroom preparations used in this study increased the efficiency of chemotherapy and/or irradiation applied. Originality of the approach is in selecting optimal extracts to prepare the products ready for clinical application.

mushroom extracts; normal and tumor cells; antitumor treatment; survival

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