Connect
Turkey Tail mushrooms and FOS. Anyone else here use these?
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
Like
Helpful
HugInterested in more discussions like this? Go to the Prostate Cancer Support Group.
Connect
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3095629/
From my readings Turkey Tail mushrooms do not work on the hormonal system or lower testosterone. Turkey Tail has been reported to work through the immune system and T- cells
T-cells. From the Cleveland Clinic:
T cells are a type of white blood cell called lymphocytes. They help your immune system fight germs and protect you from disease. There are two main types. Cytotoxic T cells destroy infected cells. Helper T cells send signals that direct other immune cells to fight infection.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionI did talk to my doctor about taking Turkey Tail and he said, "It probably won't hurt you"
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 ReactionsI agree and TT obviously has an effect on PC cells.
I also agree with your statement and approach that supplements can not cure cancer but can possibly slow it's growth and stop formation of mets and for PC that is a huge deal.
If supplement can not harm you but can possibly help - why not try it ? Mushrooms are healthy in general and many are very nutritious and tasty - I LOVE mushrooms grilled, cooked and pickled too :))))) !
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionEd and Surfer, I think you misunderstand me; I agree and I’ve read all those NIH studies. I posted about the RYZE coffee because they could be touting the anti-cancer effects of their product; instead they post a warning!
I find it unthinkable that in this information age, they do not know the basic chemistry of their own product.
Phil
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 ReactionsIn addition it is the increase in beneficial gut flora which suppresses the transformation of metabolites into Testosterone. To me, this is the key to how it might prevent castrate resistance.
If your body is producing its own steady stream of T in the gut - even though you are on ADT drugs which suppress different metabolic pathways (luteinizing hormone), you really haven’t been chemically castrated, have you? The PCa cells are still getting fed T. So perhaps castrate resistance is a misnomer and the reasons lutamides work better is because they target the T receptor sites and not the production of T itself. Just a thought…
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionI agree but with a note of caution. Some people react with gastric issues to mushrooms. If that is the case, then it is best that you avoid them. A fewer number of people have allergic reactions to mushrooms and need to avoid them.
Myself, I am very allergic to raw, uncooked mushrooms. (I only know a couple others who share this unusual reaction to raw but not cooked mushrooms). Heating them to near boiling temperature, make them safe for me. The Turkey Tail powders from Host Defense are steam treated, making them safe for me.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
5 ReactionsIt is my understanding that "chemically castrated" refers more to the sexual function of the man than absolute zero levels of testosterone.
I don’t believe so, Ed. Castrate resistant refers to a prostate cancer that is no longer sensitive (ie- does not respond) to the effects of ADT. Therefore, it has evolved to a type which cannot be controlled by simply starving it of T. It continues to grow, nonetheless.
Of course, drastically lowering T will alter sexual function dramatically as well; but ‘chemical castration’ in the sense you are thinking about it, is used more in the legal sense of a rapist or child molester being administered T lowering meds in order to curb their sexual urges. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t!
Phil
Don’t know if I mixed apples and oranges there Ed; I was using the term ‘chemically castrated’ in my original post as it refers to the use of ADT in PCa to lower T to almost zero.
When ADT loses that ability, your body is no longer ‘castrated ‘ (testicle free, if you will) - but castrate resistant. Hope That clears up my meaning.
Phil