Reduction of Adverse Effects by a Mushroom Product, Active Hexose Correlated Compound (AHCC) in Patients With Advanced Cancer During Chemotherapy—The Significance of the Levels of HHV-6 DNA in Saliva as a Surrogate Biomarker During Chemotherapy

Abstract

Chemotherapy improves the outcome of cancer treatment, but patients are sometimes forced to discontinue chemotherapy or drop out of a clinical trial due to adverse effects, such as gastrointestinal disturbances and suppression of bone marrow function. The objective of this study was to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a mushroom product, active hexose correlated compound (AHCC), on chemotherapy-induced adverse effects and quality of life (QOL) in patients with cancer. Twenty-four patients with cancer received their first cycle of chemotherapy without AHCC and then received their second cycle with AHCC. During chemotherapy, we weekly evaluated adverse effects and QOL via a blood test, EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire, and DNA levels of herpes virus type 6 (HHV-6) in saliva. The DNA levels of HHV-6 were significantly increased after chemotherapy. Interestingly, administration of AHCC significantly decreased the levels of HHV-6 in saliva during chemotherapy and improved not only QOL scores in the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire but also hematotoxicity and hepatotoxicity. These findings suggest that salivary HHV-6 levels may be a good biomarker of QOL in patients during chemotherapy, and that AHCC may have a beneficial effect on chemotherapy-associated adverse effects and QOL in patients with cancer undergoing chemotherapy.

Long-term administration of Active Hexose Correlated Compound as a dietary supplement to a patient after breast cancer surgery and chemotherapy: A case report

“…Findings indicated increased QOL and decreased human herpesvirus 6 in saliva [6]. In another study, AHCC (3 g/d) was administered to 18 breast cancer patients who were receiving chemotherapy (Anthracycline and Taxane) and results were compared to 23 patients who did not receive AHCC.…”

Efficacy and Interaction of Antioxidant Supplements as Adjuvant Therapy in Cancer Treatment

“…Integrative Cancer Therapies 15 (1) and concluded that mouthwashes (used to thoroughly rinse the oral cavity for 5 minutes and then swallowed immediately) containing vitamin E did not affect the survival rate of patients with cancer of the oral cavity and oropharynx. In addition, they reported that the supplementation reduced the incidence of mucosal adverse effects during radiotherapy.…”

“…Integrative Cancer Therapies 15 (1) and tumor progression, should be determined and the results disseminated widely. In this study, we reviewed antioxidants as an adjuvant therapy for cancer patients during chemotherapy or radiotherapy.…”

“…Because complete recovery of cancer patients following a single treatment is quite difficult, a multidisciplinary approach combined with surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy is usually utilized. 1 Other approaches using complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) modalities are an important choice among cancer patients. Hyodo et al 2 reported that 44.6% of cancer patients use CAM treatments in Japan.…”

Protective effects of active hexose correlated compound in a rat model of liver injury after hepatectomy

“…diseases, and is a cancer therapy [26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. The safety of AHCC has been supported by basic studies, including its interaction with drugs [33][34][35].…”