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Cancer has become one of our leading causes of death, with over 600,000 dying each year from it, and 1.5 million new cases each year. Since the 1980s, one of every four people in developing countries died of some sort of cancer.
Conventional therapies for cancer treatment include surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Immunotherapy has been introduced as yet another modality of treatment acting as a biological response modifier (BRM). AHCC has been found to be the most effective immunotherapy, helping patients raise their resistance to cancers by optimizing all their organ systems including their immune system.
Over the past 10 years, there have been over 100,000 patients with various kinds of cancers taking AHCC successfully as an immunotherapy. Currently, there are approximately 700 hospitals, clinics, and universities conducting ongoing studies on AHCC’s efficacy.
1) What do studies indicate about AHCC’s function?
AHCC has remarkable benefits on the immune system. It stimulates Natural Killer (NK) and Lymphokine Activated Killer (LAK) cells, thus acts to inhibit tumor cells. In fact, experimental trials with rats show that administration of AHCC during chemotherapy (UFT) significantly reduces tumor activity as compared to groups undergoing UFT alone.
Furthermore, combination treatments of AHCC and chemotherapy showed successful in inhibiting metastases to the lungs and lymph nodes. In particular, metastasis to the lymph nodes was completely inhibited by this combination. All rats in the UFT only group died after the original tumors were surgically removed, yet the rats receiving UFT plus AHCC had a significantly prolonged survival rate.
(The 4th Symposium of AHCC Research Association, Aug 1996)
2) Improved Prognosis of Postoperative Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients Treated with AHCC
Dr. Kamiyama et al from the First Department of Surgery, Kansai Medical University, in Osaka, Japan, treated postoperative hepatocellular carcinoma patients with AHCC to study its effects on disease-free survival rates. Data was collected retrospectively from February 1992 to March 2000. All the patients were confirmed to have hepatocellular carcinoma and all of them underwent macroscopically curative resection of liver tumors. Of the 167 patients, 83 received AHCC (3g/day) orally after undergoing surgery. Survival and disease-free survival rates of the 83 patients in the AHCC group were compared with a control group of 84 patients who did not receive AHCC after surgery. There were no significant differences in the clinical backgrounds of the two groups. Recurrence was determined by CT, MRI or angiogram. Furthermore, disease-free survival was defined as the period from surgery to date of recurrence.
Results showed that overall survival in the AHCC group was significantly higher than that of the control group. Disease-free survival rates after five years were 34% for the AHCC group, and 20% for the control group, showing that the survival rate was significantly prolonged by AHCC administration. Furthermore, AST, γ-GTP, and bilirubin values for liver function parameters were significantly lower in the AHCC group 4 years after surgery.
In conclusion, AHCC supplementation was proven to be beneficial for hepatitis, disease-free survival, and general survival of postoperative hepatocellular carcinoma patients without adverse effects. Therefore, AHCC treatment is a valuable adjuvant therapy as an alternative medicine or biological response modifier for these patients. (The 32-34th Congress of the European Society for Surgical Research (ESSR), May1997; May 1998; Apr 1999)
Dr. Kawaguchi et al of the Department of Surgery, Fujimoto Hospital, analyzed 229 cases of cancer patients. Among them, 127 cases were treated with AHCC and 102 were not. Treatment took place between July 1995 and Sept. 1998. For almost of the cancer patients, AHCC was treated by combination with low doses of 5FU, CDDP or other anti-cancer agents.
The mean survival term (MST), mean survival rates (MSR) in the AHCC-treated group, especially of the gastric, colon and breast cancer were compared with control group (without AHCC treatment) by referring to the statistical data of Japan. The results were shown in the table, AHCC treatment prolonged the survival terms of all the cancers.
(The 6th Symposium of AHCC Research Association, Nov 1996)
4) The Effect Of AHCC On Breast Cancer
Data was also obtained from Kawaguchi et al of Fujimoto Hospital. In breast cancer patients, groups treated with AHCC had higher than average MSR.
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In the last three years, Uno et al of the Comfort Hospital Foundation, have treated over 500 cancer patients with AHCC. Almost all of them were lung cancer patients. The results were quite significant, as AHCC combination treatment resulted in a 35% Complete Response (CR) or Partial Response (PR).
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Besides the cancers mentioned above, AHCC was also studied in thyroid carcinoma, esophagus cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, testicular cancer, renal cancer, tongue cancer, and pancreatic cancer patients. In general, except for the cancers of the blood, AHCC is has been found to be suitable and effective for all cancers.
(The 8th International Symposium of AHCC Research Association, Aug. 2000)
As seen in the data, many thousands of cancer patients treated with AHCC have benefited from its effects, and suffered no side effects. Approximately 20% of patients found AHCC to be either “very effective” or “reasonably effective”. And on the whole, over 40% of those using AHCC find it to be effective. In conclusion, AHCC has shown to be a promising safe and effective type of immunotherapy for cancer patients.
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