Quality of life improvements among cancer patients in remission following the consumption of Agaricus blazei Murill mushroom extract

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this preliminary clinical study was to assess if the daily intake of Agaricus blazei Murill (ABM) granulated powder (SSI Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) for 6 months improved the quality of life (QOL) in cancer patients in remission.

Design: Open study.

Setting: Subjects diurnally took 1 (1.8 g; N=23), 2 (3.6 g; N=22), or 3 (5.4 g; N=22) packs/day orally for 6 months.

Main outcome measures: The SF-8 Health Survey questionnaire was used to evaluate the QOL. The differences between the SF-8 baseline scores at the time of entry and 6-months after ABM treatment were evaluated.

Results: The results showed a significant improvement in QOL in both physical and mental components. More specifically, QOL effects of ABM in different genders showed males improved physical components, while females improved only mental components. QOL effects in the different age groups showed that ages 65 and under improved mental components, while ages 66 and older improved physical components. Furthermore, with respect to optimal dose effects of ABM with respect to QOL improvement, two packs per day for 6 months showed improvements in both physical and mental components.

Conclusion: This preliminary longitudinal clinical study demonstrated that daily intake of ABM appears to improve both physical and mental components based on SF-8 qualimetric analysis.

Keywords: Agaricus blazei Murill; Cancer survivor; Clinical trial; QOL; SF-8.