Cancer Field Trip

by David Archibald

2 February 2025

 

There is a misconception that cancers somehow have malevolent intent. The opposite is true. Cancer cells, as much as an individual cell can be, become aware that their self-destruct mechanisms have mutated to make them immortal, and they employ backup systems to try to tip the cell over into destruction. These include over-expressing vitamin D receptors relative to normal tissue. Most Australians live their lives chronically deficient in vitamin D, at an average of 25 ng/ml. They would halve their disease burden by doubling that level. Cancer cells put out more vitamin D receptors, in order to get to a higher intracellular vitamin D level.

Another thing that cancer cells do is to over-express β-glucuronidase relative to normal tissue. For example, pancreatic cancer over-expresses β-glucuronidase 3.6 fold relative to normal pancreatic tissue. Glucuronidation is the addition of a glucose molecule to a foreign molecule so that the molecule could be excreted by the kidneys. The role of β-glucuronidase is to split the glucose molecule from the foreign molecule so that it regains its original activity, which is to bind to receptors in and on cells to activate backup systems. The receptors reduce the production of anti-apoptotic proteins and increase the production of pro-apoptotic proteins, allowing the cell to tip over into apoptosis which is programmed cell death.

β-glucuronidase is also over-expressed in autoimmune diseases and inflammation. Which means in turn that we evolved in the expectation that certain plant molecules would arrive in our diet to help overcome disease states. The efficacy of plant molecules in treating disease is not a happenstance of Nature. When we were evolving, molecules arriving in our diet were the only thing we could rely upon to build receptors around when our normal cellular processes failed due to mutation.

This includes molecules from mushrooms. Our first single-celled animal ancestor evolved from the plants 1,547 million years ago and the funghi evolved from the animals nine million years later. So we have had a lot of time together. Molecules from funghi have only a weak direct anticancer effect. Instead, they work by stimulating the immune system.

Take prostate cancer for example. The commonly used marker for disease progression in prostate cancer is the PSA level. PSA is short for ‘prostate specific antigen’ and the word antigen is short for ‘antibody generator’. Antibodies are produced by B cells made in the bone marrow. Once matured, the B cells migrate to secondary lymphoid tissues where they can be activated by antigens. So, prostate cancer cells are sending a signal to the immune system to make antibodies to arrive in the blood stream and kill them. But the fact that the PSA level continues to rise with disease progression means that the immune system isn’t responding sufficiently.

There a number of mushroom species that have the reputation of being able to cause advanced cancers to go into complete remission, with no other contributing factors. These include Turkey Tail, Reishi and Shiitake. There is a manufacturer of fungal extracts in Western Australia, Touchwood Mushrooms near Denmark in the State’s southwest, that makes and sells extracts of a range of medicinal mushrooms. There we were informed that it takes six grams of extract per day, equivalent to six level teaspoons, to cause a cancer to go into remission. After that a maintenance dose of two grams per day might be used. Touchwood receives 20 to 30 letters a week from customers saying that their mushroom extract cured them of cancer.

Even button mushrooms have a quantifiable anticancer effect, with white button mushroom extract suppressing tumour growth and PSA levels in prostate cancer.

On the subject of prostate cancer, a multiyear study has produced a very good result. The subject, with a PSA level of 29 ng/ml, started on a protocol based on broccoli seed extract with a glucoraphanin content of 10%. Glucoraphanin is the precursor molecule to sulphoraphane, which has anticancer efficacy of about the IC50 of 1.0 µg/ml level. Over three years, the subject’s PSA level fell to 3.8 without surgical intervention, the use of artificial molecules and side effects. This graph illustrates the achievement:

 

 

David Archibald is the author of The Anticancer Garden in Australia.