Page 79killer cells which are murderous to cancer. Thus Lentinan is often prescribed to
patients who have undergone chemotherapy and radiotherapy as a means of
revitalising the patient’s immune system.
Regrettably Lentinan has not been approved by the FDA and so is not available
in the USA. This is ridiculous; Lentinan is very safe and has no significant side-
effects at clinical doses. So you would have to eat a lot of shiitake, but hey, this
mushroom is delicious!
Phellinus linteus
Phellinus has been a little known mushroom outside the Korean peninsula until
recently, so it has no common name. However it’s health properties have been
long known. Traditionally the mushroom is boiled in water and drunk as a tea but
it is also sometimes soaked in wine or whisky before drinking. Phellinus is used
as an active ingredient in skin creams because of its beneficial effects.
Scientists in South Korea tested Phellinus to see if it could work alongside
adriamycin, a common chemotherapy drug. They especially studied the problem
of metastasis—that’s the way in which cancer spreads beyond its original site to
other parts of the body.
They tested Phellinus on mice and found the animals which took only the
mushroom had the highest survival rate. With adriamycin alone, tumor growth
was inhibited but it did little to stop metastasis. The combination of the two was
effective in inhibiting tumor growth but did not inhibit the spread.
The scientist’s conclusion was that Phellinus might be of use in conjunction
with chemotherapy drugs such as adriamycin. I find this baffling, since it did
little to prevent the spread of metastasis and the study showed quite clearly
that Phellinus alone had the best results. But perhaps it’s too much to expect
that a conventional doctor would recommend a mushroom over orthodox
chemotherapy.
Phellinus, like most mushrooms, doesn’t work by directly killing cancer cells,
but by enhancing the immune response. Examples like this tell you, over and
over, that the immune system is what kills cancer and it is your most precious
resource. Unfortunately it risks harm from chemo poisons and radiation, which
is why I counsel you to protect your immune system with every nutrient you can
muster, if you choose to go that route.