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Researchers Find That a Japanese Medicinal Mushroom Extract Can Help the Body Clear Persistent HPV Infections

NEW YORK, June 22, 2022. According to a paper published in Frontiers in Oncology, daily use of a unique mushroom extract AHCC supported the immune system in clearing HPV infections in two-thirds of study participants after six months of supplementation.

The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase II study by researchers at UTHealth Houston was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and published in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal "Frontiers in Oncology."

The study focused on women with a greater than two-year history of persistent high-risk HPV. Patients in the treatment arm received AHCC supplementation for six months, followed by six months of a placebo. Patients in the placebo arm received a placebo for 12 months. Researchers confirmed that of those who received six months of AHCC, followed by six months of placebo, 63.6 percent (14 of 22) cleared the infection with no adverse side effects.

"Our results showed that AHCC supplementation helped most patients in the AHCC arm of the trial become HPV-negative therefore decreasing the long-term risk of HPV-related cancers," said Dr. Judith A. Smith, the lead researcher on the study and professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. "Importantly, through multiple studies, we have shown that the AHCC supplement is safe and readily available, so patients can ask their clinicians about using it to support their immune system in clearing persistent HPV infections."

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States, affecting more than 80 percent of sexually active adults at least once in their lifetimes. Unlike the "low risk" HPV that produces visible lesions but doesn't cause cancer, "high risk HPV" is an invisible infection that can only be detected through a tissue swab and is the leading cause of six different types of cancer, with the two most common being cervical cancer and head-and-neck cancer.

"At HPV Cancers Alliance, we envision a world where no one endures the devastation of an HPV-associated cancer," said Lillian Kreppel, Executive Director and Co-Founder of the HPV Alliance and a cancer survivor. "This groundbreaking research provides hope that high-risk HPV patients no longer need to sit and wait to see if their HPV develops into one of six cancers. Instead, they can take actionable steps to support their body's fight against HPV. And because high-risk HPV is essentially an invisible virus with few detection methods available, all of us should consider taking steps now to support our immune systems naturally and effectively with genuine AHCC."

About High-Risk HPV
Most healthy individuals with optimally functioning immune systems can clear HPV infections on their own within two years. However, the presence of the virus can cause changes to cellular DNA and increase the risk of 6 HPV-associated cancers, the most common being cervical cancer in women and head & neck cancer in men. Since reinfections are common and some infections become persistent, this risk can rise during the lifetime. In addition, a person could contract an infection early in life but not have it manifest until years later, long after they've been in a monogamous relationship with an HPV-free partner.

About AHCC
AHCC is a unique natural cultured extract derived from the cell wall of the mycelia (roots) of lentitula edodes mushrooms. A complex molecule rich in alpha-glucans and other immune modulating polysaccharides, AHCC is one of the world's most researched natural immune-modulating compounds. Supported by more than 20 human clinical studies and over 50 papers published in Medline-indexed journals,

About AHCC Research Association
AHCC Research Association supports research and public awareness initiatives that enable clinicians, patients and consumers to evaluate the use of AHCC as an immune support nutrient in healthy and immune-compromised individuals, as well as an immunotherapeutic adjuvant to traditional mainline treatments in Western medicine. The Association also supports regulatory initiatives that would help healthcare professionals and consumers to differentiate clinically validated nutritional products from untested and unregulated dietary supplements.

SOURCE AHCC Research Association

Posted: June 2022

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