Turkey Tail mushrooms and FOS. Anyone else here use these?

Posted by ededed @ededed, Aug 2 7:32am

I have been taking Turkey Tail Mushroom tea or capsules, along with Lion’s Mane’s mushroom tea or capsules and FOS for 4 years now. For the last few visits to my urologist, he has told me that he is surprised how well I am doing. When I first started seeing him, I was diagnosed with Stage 3-C, advanced and aggressive prostate cancer with a PSA of 54.0. My Gleason score was 8.
My search of the literature led me to taking FOS and Turkey Tail mushrooms since October, 2021. I added Lion’s Mane mushrooms to my daily routine a bit later. I take Turkey Tail mushrooms I have collected myself as well as commercially available capsules and mycelium powder. Cancer stem cells (CSC) promote metastasis, something that we all hope to avoid. Turkey Tail mushroom and specifically the polysaccharides within the mushroom are credited with combating the cancer stem cells. I attribute my lack of progression of my cancer to my Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy aka IMRT, my one year of ADT, and to the supplements that I take daily.

Below, I have quoted from four peer reviewed articles without editorializing though I have bolded some of the most relevant passages.
An additional note, Turkey Tail mushrooms are now the subject of a clinical trial at the Mayo Clinic in pre-operative breast cancer patients. It has also been reported favorably for patients with colorectal cancer and a few other solid organ cancers.

The following acronyms are found in the quotes below.
A mucinphila the commensal intestinal mucin-degrading bacterium Akkermansia muciniphila
CSC cancer stem cells
FOS FructooligoSaccharide or oligofructose
PC Prostate Cancer
Advanced prostate cancer patients on androgen deprivation therapy have altered gut microbiota composition, with an accumulation of bacterial species that can synthesize dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and testosterone from pregnenolone [through 17a-hydroxylase/17,20-desmo lase (CYP17A1)– like activity]. The presence of these species enhances tumor growth and progression to castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC)(1).
We have carefully examined a total of 24 the up-to-date available dietary intervention studies in search for evidence and strategies to increase A. muciniphila, a beneficial member of gut microbiota in the gut. Available evidence from animal studies showed that viable A.muciniphila or prebiotics (FOS) was able to consistently promote A. muciniphila abundance in the gut, suggesting a great potential for future development of dietary intervention approaches using viable bacterium or FOS for increasing gut A. muciniphila..(2)
Here, we demonstrated that the polysaccharopeptide (PSP) extracted from Turkey tail (known as Coriolus versicolor [aka Trametes versicolor] or Yun-zhi) targets prostate CSCs in vitro and suppresses tumor formation in vivo. Treatment of prostate cancer cell line PC-3 with PSP led to the down-regulation of CSC markers (CD133 and CD44) in a time and dose-dependent manner. Meanwhile, formation of prostasphere, a major property of prostate CSCs, was completely suppressed in PC-3 cells in the presence of PSP. Furthermore,PSP pre-treatment significantly suppressed tumor initiation of PC-3 cells in immunocompromised mice, suggesting that PSP suppresses the tumorigenicity of the PC-3 cells. More importantly, oral feeding of transgenic mice (TgMAP) that spontaneously develop prostate tumor with PSP was found to completely inhibit prostate tumor formation. Our findings support that PSP may be a potent chemo-preventive agent against prostate cancer, possibly through targeting of the prostate CSC population. (3)
Since ancient times, mushrooms have been considered valuable allies of human wellbeing both from a dietary and medicinal point of view. Their essential role in several traditional medicines is explained today by the discovery of the plethora of biomolecules that have shown proven efficacy for treating various diseases, including cancer. Numerous studies have already been conducted to explore the antitumoural properties of mushroom extracts against cancer. Still,very few have reported the anticancer properties of mushroom polysaccharides and mycochemicals against the specific population of cancer stem cells (CSCs). In this context, _-glucans are relevant in modulating immunological surveillance against this subpopulation of cancer cells within tumours.(4)
In fact, as reported in this review, mushrooms are an abundant source of mycochemicals that may intervene in several pathways involved in the induction of embryonic characteristics specific to CSCs, either alone or in synergy with conventional drug therapies.(4)
SOURCES
1. Gut bacteria enable prostate cancer growth. John A. McCulloch, Giorgio Trinchieri.. Science, 374 (6564), DOI: 10.1126/science.abl7070
2. 2. Kequan Zhou, Strategies to promote abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila, an emerging probiotics in the gut, evidence from dietary intervention studies, Journal of Functional Foods, Volume 33, 2017, Pages 194-201, ISSN 1756-4646,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jff.2017.03.045
3. Chemopreventive Effect of PSP Through Targeting ofProstate Cancer Stem Cell-Like Population. Sze-Ue Luk , Terence Kin-Wah Lee, Ji Liu, Davy Tak-Wing Lee, Yung-Tuen Chiu, Stephanie Ma, Irene Oi-Lin Ng, Yong-Chuan Wong, Franky Leung Chan, Ming-Tat Ling. Published: May 16, 2011, Chemopreventive Effect of PSP Through Targeting of Prostate Cancer Stem Cell-Like Population | PLOS ONE
4. Mycochemicals against Cancer Stem Cells. : Tacchini, M.; Sacchetti, G.; Guerrini, A.; Paganetto, G. Toxins 2023, 15, 360. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins15060360

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Prostate Cancer Support Group.

Profile picture for gkgdawg @gkgdawg

I am really hoping that my husband can stop the ADT, at some point, sooner than later. From the comments I have seen, at least 24 months seems to be the normal MOD.

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Gleason score determines length of ADT administration.

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The Gleason score in September 2024 was 4 plus 3 7/10

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Profile picture for melcanada @melcanada

Does Turkey Tail or any other stop metastatic prostate cancer in the bones HELP

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I have used turkey tail in addition to standard medical care (ADT and radiation therapy). I firmly believe that it helps prevent new lesions and metastasis. I would not expect it to kill an established bone metastasis. Similar to the effect of ADT which may reduce the size of the tumor, but is not counted on to eliminate it. I was started on ADT 2 months before I was scheduled for initial radiation treatments so that the ADT would shrink the tumors and increase the chance that radiation could then kill the tumors.

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Profile picture for ecurb @ecurb

Gleason score determines length of ADT administration.

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Not if the patient says, "No", "enough of the monstrous side effects and risk of CRPC.

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Profile picture for ededed @ededed

Not if the patient says, "No", "enough of the monstrous side effects and risk of CRPC.

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Interestingly, on the RYZE mushroom coffee website, it cautions people with hormone sensitive cancers to speak with their doctors before drinking their coffee.
They use a variety of shrooms in their blend, including Turkey Tail and Lion’s Mane. Now, perhaps hormones ARE affected, but how exactly - up or down they don’t specify.
I would have to think that if it has a beneficial effect on PCa, it must lower T (by increasing gut flora which inhibits production of T by harmful bacteria) but don’t remember seeing its direct correlation to PSA values. Ed, do you have any info or links to share?

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Profile picture for ededed @ededed

Not if the patient says, "No", "enough of the monstrous side effects and risk of CRPC.

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You can say NO- but don t expect great results when the PCa comes back very quickly- it’s your choice , your life.

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Profile picture for ecurb @ecurb

You can say NO- but don t expect great results when the PCa comes back very quickly- it’s your choice , your life.

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It has been three and a half years since I quit ADT. My PSA has continued to decrease. It is now 0.06.

As I said before, while on ADT I had severe joint pain and had difficulty walking up stairs.

I am not suggesting others quit ADT if they are managing the side effects well and the risk of developing CRPC is low. If ADT is causing a significant side effect then the decision is up to the patient after getting the best medical advice that they can and balancing the risks vs benefits.

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Profile picture for ededed @ededed

It has been three and a half years since I quit ADT. My PSA has continued to decrease. It is now 0.06.

As I said before, while on ADT I had severe joint pain and had difficulty walking up stairs.

I am not suggesting others quit ADT if they are managing the side effects well and the risk of developing CRPC is low. If ADT is causing a significant side effect then the decision is up to the patient after getting the best medical advice that they can and balancing the risks vs benefits.

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Agree100%. Joint pain, stair climbing- so bad that I had PT done for my knees/ legs. Your spot on.

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I don’t but I use white button mushroom extract per the advice of my oncologist (not a surgeon vs. a urologist). I read some favorable literature. On the other hand are there any outcome studies? Are there studies showing that in humans with prostate cancer using these supplements that they live longer or have less symptoms in a RCT (randomized controlled trial which is the hallmark of scientifically accepted human research). If so “how much?”, a month, a year or 5+ years? Then decide whether it’s worth it or not. The same yardstick should be applied to drugs, radiation and surgery because as we know the side effects are nothing to sneeze at.

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I did read a study from Japan that men who regularly ate white button mushrooms as part of their diet were less likely to get prostate cancer.

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