Mushrooms can help prevent breast cancer, says a study published in Cancer Research, by suppressing estrogen production in the body. Controlling estrogen levels in women can help limit or prevent cancer growth.

Researchers confirmed the presence of anti-aromatase chemicals in white button mushrooms. The chemical found called conjugated linoleic acid has previously been found to have anti-cancer properties. In mice, these compounds stopped the growth of breast cancer cells.The mice that were fed mushroom extract had a 58 percent reduction in breast tumor growth.

They tested other mushrooms and found that although white button mushrooms had the strongest effect, shiitake, portobello, crimini, and baby button mushrooms also had significant anti-aromatase effects.

Previous posts on this topic:

Medicinal mushrooms: cancer treatment cancer prevention

Recipe for Healthy Living: Mushroom Garlic Soup

A study was conducted that shows some promise in slowing tumor growth of prostate cancer cells by adding extract from a mushroom called Phellinus linteus to the drug doxorubicin. This drug is better known as Adriamycin. The findings were reported in the British Journal of Cancer and it suggests that a lower dose of chemotherapy combined with this type of mushroom extract can be as effective as treating prostate cancer with the full dose of doxorubicin.

Prostate cancer is the third most common cancer in men. We know that important drugs have been found in nature and this could potentially be one that can help to treat cancer without all the nasty side effects. It was added that further studies need to be done to understand how this type of mushroom can inhibit cancer growth.

As Dr. Alexander Sun watched his mother fighting lung cancer and suffering in pain, with chemotherapy failing to stop the progression of her cancer, he developed an herbal soup for her to drink that he thought might help. Three months later, surgeons removed a tumor and she lived cancer-free for another 17 years. Dr. Sun, a biochemist, went on to conduct two small clinical trials with his soup, called Selected Vegetables/Sun's Soup, and reported positive outcomes for most of the cancer patients in the trial. In fact, the results were impressive, according to Dr. Sun's tests. There are some questions regarding the size of the trials, as both involved few participants, and most used the soup as a complementary therapy while undergoing conventional treatments at the same time.

Some of the ingredients Dr. Sun used to make his soup have been proven in separate research studies to have some anti-cancer properties. The ingredients are: soybean, the medicinal shitake mushroom, red date, scallion, garlic, lentil bean, leek, mung bean, hawthorn fruit, onion, American ginseng, angelica root, licorice, dandelion root, senegal root, ginger, olive, sesame seed and parsley.

The National Cancer Institute has documented information on the human clinical studies that were conducted, with additional information about Sun's Soup. I found it interesting that they do not rule out the effectiveness of the soup, only that the data is too limited to make a conclusive statement regarding the soup. I understand Sun's Soup is sold freeze-dried as a dietary supplement.

Button mushrooms for prostate and breast cancer prevention, posted several months ago, reported on a study that showed white button mushrooms offer both breast cancer and prostate cancer protection, and might be a significant nutritional resource as a cancer prevention food.

Our sibling blog, Slashfood, points to a study that reports exposing mushrooms to ultraviolet light for a short period of time enhances them as a nutritional superfood with 869 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin D. As Joe DiStefano remarks, "That's more of the vitamin than is found in two tablespoons of cod liver oil, and probably much tastier." I would agree -- and there is a whole generation of grandparents who would agree -- since cod liver oil was administered to children on a daily basis back then. Yuck. My grandparents do not have fond taste memories of cod liver oil.

Past research indicates that the lack of an adequate level of vitamin D puts a person at higher cancer risk. These enhanced mushrooms would be a novel way to include another food enriched with vitamin D as part of a cancer prevention diet without relying too much on sun exposure for vitamin D, and the resulting skin cancer risk from the sun.