Medicinal mushrooms: their therapeutic properties and current medical usage with special emphasis on cancer treatments.


Authors:

JOHN E SMITH BSc MSc PhD DSc FIBiol FRSE
Emeritus Professor of Applied Microbiology, University of Strathclyde
Chief Scientific Officer, MycoBiotech Ltd, Singapore
NEIL J ROWAN BSc MSc PhD MIBiol MIFST
Lecturer, Department of Bioscience, University of Strathclyde
RICHARD SULLIVAN BSc MD PhD
Head of Clinical Programmes, Cancer Research UK

Introduction
Many of the currently available anti-cancer agents are derived form natural products, for instance paclitaxel (Taxol), and camptothecin (Hycamtin) amongst many others. In 2000 Professor Gordon McVie, Director-General of the Cancer Research Campaign (now Cancer Research UK) and Professor John Smith of University of Strathclyde met in Glasgow to discuss the role of medicinal mushrooms in the treatment of cancer. The CRC had become aware that these natural products were being used extensively in the Far East as nutriceuticals (dietary supplements) and as a source for the generation of pharmaceutical-grade medicines to treat a wide variety of diseases, including cancer. The substantial range of medicinal mushroom species from which different bioactive compounds can be derived suggested that the humble mushroom could be a source of novel anti-cancer agents.

This monograph is a comprehensive overview of this subject from the technology of cultivation, extraction and chemistry of medicinal mushroom bioactive compounds to the clinical evidence that suggests an important therapeutic role in cancer, and other major diseases.

Download the monograph
The monograph is available for download on a chapter by chapter basis as PDF documents. If you don't have a copy of Adobe Acrobat, you can download a copy from their website at www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html. If you are having difficulty downloading the monograph - some of the sections are quite large due to high quality images - please contact Cancer Research UK via the email or phone details listed below to obtain a CD copy.

Contacts at Cancer Research UK
For more information email John Smith at E.S.Clements@strath.ac.uk or contact Richard Sullivan on Tel: 020 7242 0200 or richard.sullivan@cancer.org.uk.

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