title: Mushroom polysaccharide extracts delay progression of carcinogenesis in mice.
abstract: Hepatocellular carcinoma results when cancerous cells are localized in the liver. It is distributed globally with high prevalence in sub-Saharan African, southern Asia, China and Japan. Diagnosis is experimental and in many cases inaccurate due to unreliability of markers. Prognosis is poor and the cost of treatment prohibitive. Conventional radiation and chemotherapy lead to loss of hair, fertility and general weakening of the body's immune system increasing a patient's risk to infection. These observations underscore the need for improved, or additional methods of cancer diagnosis and management. We investigated the effect of polysaccharide rich Pleurotus pulmonarius fruit body extracts on progression of chemically induced hepatocellular carcinoma in CBA mice. Addition of Pleurotus pulmonarius extracts in diet delayed progression of carcinogenesis suggesting that these extracts may be useful as adjuvants to conventional cancer therapies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Carolyne G O
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Wasonga
authors.forename: Sheila A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Okoth
authors.forename: Joseph C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Mukuria
authors.forename: Charles O A
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Omwandho
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016588:Anticarcinogenic Agents; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology; D018450:Disease Progression; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D008808:Mice, Inbred CBA; D019158:N-Acetylneuraminic Acid / Q000097:blood; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000473:pathology*; D020076:Pleurotus / Q000737:chemistry*; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D016588:Anticarcinogenic Agents; D011134:Polysaccharides; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; D019158:N-Acetylneuraminic Acid