Turkey Tail Mushroom - Trametes versicolor

The turkey tail mushroom or cloud mushroom, Trametes versicolor has been studied and been shown to have antitumor properties against many types of cancers. (Hsieh and Wu 2001) concluded that ethanolic extracts of Yunzhi, a proprietary dietary supplement prepared from extracts of T. versicolor, reduces the growth of hormone responsive prostate cancer LNCaP cell growth. The polysaccharo-peptide in the extract raises the possibility that Yunzhi may be considered as an adjuvant therapy in the treatment of hormone responsive prostate cancer; additionally, it may have chemopreventive potential to restrict prostate tumorigenic progression from the hormone-dependent to the hormone-refractory state. (Chu et al.) reviewed that the growth of several human cancer cell lines, viz., gastric cancer, lung cancer, leukemia, and lymphoma was markedly inhibited by a crude T. versicolor extract at 1 mg/mL after 72 h of incubation. The polysaccharide peptide krestin of T. versicolor has potential to be used as an adjuvant in breast cancer prevention (Standish et al. 2008). The polysaccharide of this mushroom has been demonstrated to inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells in vitro and in vivo, examined on the human hepatoma cancer cell lines. These results showed that the polysaccharide inhibited the proliferation in low concentrations. Apoptosis and significant decrease in the expression of the cell cycle-related genes in these cells following treatment, indicate that the polysaccharide can be a potential candidate in cancer therapy (Cai et al. 2010). These are studies that require replication and trials. They do indicate that turkey tail mushrooms may possibly help in the fight against these cancers.

Suggested dosing: Tincture 1-4 ml daily.

Possible side effects: Allergy, lowered blood sugar levels.

Contraindications: Do not combine with Cyclophosphamide or Tamoxifen unless under a physician’s supervision.

Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose or treat any illness. I am not a medical professional and cannot diagnose or treat any illness.