Title of Project:
An ingestible, absorbable mycelial inhibitor of Akt in purification for use in myeloma, lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis

Principal Investigator: Dr. Ann Traynor
Director of Stem Cell Transplantation for Autoimmune Diseases
University of Massachusetts Medical Center

Abstract:

There are many treatments that effectively kill cancer cells, and yet we are unable to “cure” most cancers.  One reason seems to be that cancer cells have, or can develop, alternate pathways to avoid the cell killing effects of cancer therapy.  For example, patients with the blood cancer multiple myeloma have good initial response to a steroid therapy, which is a very gently kind of chemotherapy.  The number of cancer cells drops dramatically at first as the steroids kill susceptible cancer cells.  However, the cancer killing effect plateaus in a few months, resistance builds to this steroid treatment and the patients’ disease escalates quickly.   

Dr. Traynor and others believe that this resistance is due to the emergence of an alternate pathway, called the Akt pathway, which allows some cancer cell to survive, even when steroids are trying to shut down the cell.  This discovery was made after Dr. Traynor observed a patient with advanced blood cancer who had a prolonged survival after very short course steroids.  This particular blood cancer has been shown have high Akt pathway activity.

This observation alerted Dr. Traynor to the possibility that something else the patient was doing might be blocking the Akt pathway.  Dr. Traynor reviewed the nutritional and medicinal supplements the patient was taking until she found a commercially available mushroom extract product the patient used every day.  Review of the medical literature indicated that a compound derived from this mushroom might block the Akt pathway.  To test this theory, samples of the mushroom product were tested in the lab on myeloma cells known to use the Akt pathway to survive. Repeated tests showed that the extract killed 96% of these resistant cells in just 3 days!

This innovative research study will be the first of its kind to test this mushroom extract on an animals with the cancer multiple myeloma.  If the extract is as effective in this one year animal study as it was on the patient and in the lab, it will be then studied in a human clinical trial beginning later next year.  This mushroom extract has few, if any, side effects, is commercially available at a very low cost, and would be effective not just in multiple myeloma, but in many other cancers in which the Akt pathway helps cancer cells survive.  This could be an inexpensive, safe and effective therapy for incurable cancers AND help patients with this disease who need help RIGHT NOW!