Preventing Recurrence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma After Curative Hepatectomy With Active Hexose-correlated Compound Derived From Lentinula edodes Mycelia

Abstract

Purpose: Active hexose-correlated compound (AHCC), a standardized extract of cultured Lentinula edodes mycelia, exerts antitumor effects through anti-inflammatory and immune-modulatory functions. Adjuvant therapy for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who have undergone curative hepatectomy has not been established. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of AHCC as adjuvant therapy in patients with advanced HCC after curative hepatectomy. Patients and methods: The study design was single-armed, non-randomized, open (no one was blinded), and uncontrolled. Patients with HCC who underwent curative hepatectomy were treated with AHCC (1 g) 3 times daily orally for 2 years. The inclusion criteria were HCC diagnosed preoperatively as stages A and B of the Barcelona clinic liver cancer (BCLC) classification and alpha-fetoprotein × protein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonist II (PIVKA-II) ≥ 105 for stage A. Results: A total of 29 patients were treated with AHCC, of which 25 (4 patients discontinued) were followed up. The 2-year recurrence-free survival rate after resection was 48% for those without discontinuations and 55.2% for all patients with a history of treatment. Serum albumin levels decreased to a minimum in the first postoperative month and gradually recovered to the preoperative level at 6 months. Almost no change in lymphocyte percentage was observed during follow-up. Inflammation-based prognostic scores were maintained at favorable levels after hepatectomy. Toxicity and adverse events were not observed in any patient. Conclusion: AHCC may be safe and effective in preventing HCC recurrence after curative hepatectomy, and further randomized trials of AHCC for its use in this setting are warranted. This clinical trial was registered in UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (ID UMIN000024396).

Hepatoprotection of a Standardized Extract of Cultured Lentinula edodes Mycelia against Liver Injury Induced by Ischemia-Reperfusion and Partial Hepatectomy

“…Therefore, HIRI may be involved in the recurrence of HCC. However, it has been suggested that ECLM may inhibit the recurrence of HCC [ 53 , 54 ]. It may be possible to apply the current investigation of the effect of ECLM on a warm HIRI+PH rat model to human clinical practice by observing the organ-protective effect for hepatectomy requiring frequent PM and the postoperative recurrence rate of HCC after ECLM oral intake.…”

The Tumor Growth Inhibitory Effect of a Standardized Extract of Cultured <i>Lentinula edodes</i> Mycelia Using Patient Derived Xenograft Model

“…This result for the appearance of the tumor PDX bearing mice administrated by AHCC ® may reflect the clinical findings in humans where AHCC ® improved palliate the medical condition of weight loss and poor physical symptoms caused by the cancer or anti-cancer drug treatment. 25,30) A significant growth inhibition of renal cancer PDX was observed with combination of intraperitoneal and oral administration as AHCC ® in drinking water. In this experiment, AHCC ® administration started i.p.…”

“…24) On the other hand, AHCC ® has no such side effects at normal intake levels and is distributed as a functional food. 14) An application of AHCC ® has been reported that AHCC ® is useful for the recuperation of cancer patients or their prognosis, 25) namely reducing the side effects of chemotherapeutic agents during cancer treatment, [26][27][28][29] preventing cancer recurrence, 30) improving the QOL prognosis, and reducing oxidative stress. 31) In this study, we found significant inhibitory effect of AHCC ® on the growth of renal cancer PDX and tendency of the inhibitory effect on the growth of breast cancer (invasive and non-invasive ductal carcinoma) PDX in Super SCID mice.…”