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Agaricus Blazei

Cautions
Dosing
Integrative
Programs
Commentary
More
Information

BCCT plans to write a summary on Agaricus blazei, one of several medicinal mushrooms. While our summary is in development, you can visit About Herbs: Agaricus Blazei

Before using this therapy, consult your oncology team about interactions with other treatments and therapies. Also make sure this therapy is safe for use with any other medical conditions you may have.

Cautions

Use has been linked to severe liver dysfunction in three patients with unspecified cancers.¹

Paul Stamets in MycoMedicinals notes that Agaricus blazei contains the carcinogen hydrazine, and we do not have data indicating whether or not the effects of these carcinogens mitigate the medicinal properties of these mushrooms.  These carcinogens can be removed during processing, and these "detoxified" preparations are available. However, "consumers should beware that many of the A. blazei products being sold contain these potentially dangerous hydrazines."²  

Dosing

BCCT does not recommend therapies or doses, but only provides information for patients and providers to consider as part of a complete treatment plan. Patients should discuss therapies with their physicians, as contraindications, interactions and side effects must be evaluated.

Dosage recommendations are available from these sources:

• Block KI. Life over Cancer: The Block Center Program for Integrative Cancer Care. New York: Bantam Dell. 2009.

Integrative Programs, Protocols and Medical Systems

• Programs and protocols
  • Alschuler & Gazella complementary approaches³
    • Ovarian cancer
  • Block program⁴
    • Immunomodulation
  • Lemole, Mehta & McKee protocols⁵
    • Endometrial cancer
• Traditional systems
• Traditional Chinese medicine 

Commentary

Paul Stamets advises using mushroom products that contain both the water and alcohol extractions, since each contain different medicinally important compounds.⁶

Integrative oncologist and BCCT advisor Keith Block, MD, advises using extracts (rather than eating whole mushrooms) that are blends of several different medicinal mushrooms, including maitake (Grifola frondosa), agaricus (Agaricus blazeii), shiitake (Lentinula or Lentinus edodes), reishi (Ganoderma lucidum), turkey tail (Trametes or Coriolus versicolor), and caterpillar fungus or cordyceps (Cordyceps sinensis).⁷

1. Mukai H, Watanabe T, Ando M, Katsumata N. An alternative medicine, Agaricus blazei, may have induced severe hepatic dysfunction in cancer patients. Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2006 Dec;36(12):808-10.
2. Stamets P. MycoMedicinals An Informational Treatise on Mushrooms, 3rd Edition. China: MycoMedia Productions. 2002. 
3. Alschuler & Gazella complementary approachesAlschuler LN, Gazella KA. The Definitive Guide to Cancer, 3rd Edition: An Integrative Approach to Prevention, Treatment, and Healing. Berkeley, California: Celestial Arts. 2010; Alschuler LN, Gazella KA. The Definitive Guide to Thriving after Cancer: A Five-Step Integrative Plan to Reduce the Risk of Recurrence and Build Lifelong Health. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press. 2013.
4. Block KI. Life over Cancer: The Block Center Program for Integrative Cancer Care. New York: Bantam Dell. 2009.
5. Lemole G, Mehta P, McKee D. After Cancer Care: The Definitive Self-Care Guide to Getting and Staying Well for Patients with Cancer. New York, New York: Rodale, Inc. 2015.
6. Stamets P. MycoMedicinals An Informational Treatise on Mushrooms, 3rd Edition. China: MycoMedia Productions. 2002. p. 65.
7. Block KI. Life over Cancer: The Block Center Program for Integrative Cancer Care. New York: Bantam Dell. 2009. p. 114.

View All References

More Information

• Gurdev Parmar and Tina Kaczor: Textbook of Naturopathic Oncology
• Oriveda: Oriveda Medicinal Mushroom Resource Page
• Keith I. Block, MD: Life over Cancer: The Block Center Program for Integrative Cancer Treatment
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: About Herbs, Botanicals and Other Products