The maitake mushroom is more than a popular Chinese cooking ingredient, according to researchers at the Department of Urology at the New York Medical College, who claim that it could be potential weapon against cancer.
A study carried out at the institution and detailed in the British Journal of Urology highlights that combining an extract from the mushroom with the anti-cancer protein interferon alpha creates a treatment which has the ability to reduce growth of cancer tumours by as much as 75%.
It is believed that the two substances, when used in low doses, may activate an enzyme which controls growth of prostate and bladder cancer cells.
Commenting on the discovery, Dr Alison Ross, Cancer Research UK’s senior science information officer, told the Daily Express: “Many chemotherapy drugs currently in use have been derived from natural substances found in plants so it is not too far-fetched to think that mushrooms could be a valuable source of potential new cancer drugs.”
Bladder cancer is the seventh most common form of the disease in the UK, affecting 356,600 people worldwide every year, according to Cancer Research UK.
Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer affecting UK men and around 670,000 people are diagnosed with the condition each year worldwide.
