Mushroom‐Derived Maitake PETfraction as Single Agent for the Treatment of Lymphoma in Dogs

Abstract

Background: Maitake PETfraction is a standardized essence extracted from the mushroom Maitake (Grifola frondosa) that has antitumor activity in tumor-bearing mice. In addition, PETfraction induces apoptosis in human prostate and bladder cancer cells and suppresses the proliferation in vitro of several canine tumor cell lines, such as lymphoma (Cl-1), mammary gland (CF33), and connective tissue (CF21).Hypothesis: Maitake PETfraction is effective as a single agent in dogs with lymphoma. Animals: Fifteen dogs with confirmed intermediate or high-grade lymphoma were enrolled into this prospective, noncontrolled, clinical trial. Inclusion criteria were an expected survival time of at least 2 weeks and no major organ dysfunction.Methods: Maitake PETfraction was administered at a dose of 3 drops/kg/day divided into 2 doses given 1 hour before feeding. Dogs were evaluated by physical examination with tumor measurement, body weight, CBC, and chemistry profile before treatment and after 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks. At each visit, owners completed a questionnaire addressing overall quality of life, appetite, and any adverse effects noted.Results: A decrease in lymph node size of greater than 50% (objective response) was not seen in any of the dogs. Thirteen dogs developed progressive disease before the 4th week. The median treatment duration was 27 days (range, 9-228). PETfraction was well accepted, and minimal adverse effects were observed. Two dogs developed hyphema. It was not known if this was related to progressive lymphoma or was an adverse effect of treatment.Conclusions: No objective responses were observed to administration of Maitake PETfraction, and the drug was well tolerated in these dogs.

Unconventional diets and nutritional supplements are more common in dogs with cancer compared to healthy dogs: An online global survey of 345 dog owners

“…Research investigating use of mushroom supplements in cancer treatment is more extensive; however, the results are conflicting. in vitro and in vivo studies of human and murine cancers provide evidence that mushroom supplements may be a useful complementary cancer treatment, 28‐31 while a prospective non‐controlled in vivo study of 15 dogs with lymphoma found no objective response to the treatment 32 . Clinicians should be aware of these growing trends and be equipped with evidence‐based knowledge when providing nutritional advice, especially following a cancer diagnosis.…”

Potent Anticancer Effect of PET-Fraction (PET-F) in Comparison with Other Commercial Products on Canine Cancer Cells

“…Due to technical difficulties, few studies have yet been performed to determine the attainable physiological concentrations of PET-F in animals. However, PET-F has been studied in dogs bearing intermediate or high-grade lymphomas with an expected survival time of 2 weeks [19]. Such study showed that PET-F was well tolerated in these dogs but no significant improvements or cancer regression was seen with PET-F administration.…”

“…Lastly, it is also important to address the safety of PET-F for a therapeutic utility. In addition to the above PET-F study on dogs with lymphomas [19], a few toxicity studies of PET-F have also been performed in animals. For instance, a toxicity study using healthy beagle dogs (n = 10) confirmed that no toxicity was seen in any dogs when they received PET-F (3.3 mg/ kg body weight per day) for 10 weeks [21].…”

Medicinal mushroom: boon for therapeutic applications

“…In a research survey, the effect of triterpenes isolated from the mycelial extract of Ganoderma lucidum shows arrest of cell cycle in G2-M phase of human leukaemia cancer cell lines HT-29 (Muller et al 2006). Grifolan frondosa PET fraction extracts are used for the treatment of leukaemia in dogs, to induce apoptosis and suppress proliferation of lymphoma C-1 cell lines in vitro (Griessmayr et al 2007).…”