Immunomodulation by orally administered protein-bound polysaccharide PSK in patients with gastrointestinal cancer

Abstract

The present study was designed to assess the effects of the protein-bound polysaccharide PSK on the immunological status of patients with gastrointestinal cancer. Twenty-nine gastric and 18 colorectal cancer patients were randomly assigned to either the control or PSK group. Patients in the PSK group were given 3.0 g of PSK orally before surgery, either daily or every other day. Patients in the control group received no PSK. The data of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) were compared before and after administration of PSK, and those of the regional node lymphocytes (RNL) were compared between the control and the PSK group. The results indicate that the effects of PSK were significantly influenced by the duration of administration, but not by the frequency of administration. In the patients belonging to the short term PSK group (administration less than 14 days), the response of the PBL to PSK and Con A become significantly stronger compared to before the administration of PSK, whereas the cytotoxicity against K562 and KATO-3, and the proportion of CD16+ cells increased significantly in those patients belonging to the long term PSK group (greater than or equal to 14 days). In addition, the proportion of CD9 + 11b + suppressor T cells decreased in the RNL of the short term PSK group, whereas the proportion of CD4 + Leu8 - helper T cells in the RNL increased in the long term PSK group. These results suggest that the oral administration of PSK leads to the suppression of suppressor cells in the RNL.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Beneficial effects of protein-bound polysaccharide K plus tegafur/uracil in patients with stage II or III colorectal cancer: Analysis of immunological parameters

“…Thus, the immunological and survival data of the randomised, controlled clinical study support the laboratory data that PSK has immunomodulatory and biochemical modulatory activities, and a role in the restoration of host immunity that has been impaired by the tumour and/or antitumour chemotherapeutic agents (19,20). Indeed, PSK had an apparent beneficial effect on the disease-free survival rate in patients with pre-operative serum IAP values ≤500 μg ml -1 and patients with NK cell population ≥8% at 3 months after surgery.…”

Development and validation of a model that predicts early death among cancer patients participating in phase I clinical trials investigating cytotoxics

“…These phase I trials typically enroll vulnerable patients with advanced cancers and who have exhausted standard treatment options that may offer clinical benefit. In phase 1 clinical trials investigating new cytotoxic agents, the potential harms obviously overweight the potential benefits in such patients [1][2][3][4][5][6]. The risk/benefit ratio seems to be more favorable in phase 1 clinical trials investigating molecular targeted drug [5].…”

“…The inclusion of cancer patients in phase 1 clinical trials remains an ethical dilemma for the treating physician/ investigator [1][2][3][4]. A recent systematic review of the literature data has shown that the risk of toxic death was certainly overestimated in the past, this risk was up to 1% in recent report [5].…”

Immunomodulatory dietary polysaccharides: a systematic review of the literature

“…In two RCTs and five controlled trials, PSK from T. versicolor mycelia increased survival of advanced stage gastric, colon and colorectal cancer patients [56-62] with one study showing increased immune parameters (including blood NK cell activity, leukocyte cytotoxicity, proportion of helper cells and lymphocyte suppressor cells) [62]. An RCT of advanced stage lung cancer patients consuming PSP from T. versicolor fruit bodies found increased IgG and IgM antibodies and total leukocyte and neutrophil counts, along with a decrease in the number of patients withdrawing from the study due to disease progression [63].…”