Friday, April 9: 1:45-3:15pm (Pacific Time) | Breakout Session #1
Mushrooms as adjuvants in Cancer Treatment: Clinical Data and Pharmacology Review
with Kevin Spelman, CSO
Session Description
Medicinal mushrooms have been approved adjuncts to standard cancer treatments in Japan and China for more than 30 years and have an extensive history of safe use as single agents or combined with radiation therapy or chemotherapy. In this presentation we will examine the ethnobotany, chemistry and compare fruiting body vs. mycelia. Then we take a dive into the pharmacology, dosing and safety, and close the session by examining case studies with laboratory data using Ganoderma lucidum (reishi) and Lentinus edodes (shitake) in cancer patients.
About Dr. Kevin Spelman
Dr. Kevin Spelman is a molecular biologist and clinician who has worked with medicinal plants in the field, in the clinic, and in research models including clinical trials and preclinical models. He has 3 decades of clinical experience and was a cofounder of the first accredited Master of Science in Clinical Herbal Medicine at MUIH. As a researcher he has elucidated the interface between physiology and phytochemistry: At the NIH he investigated cannabinoid signaling and brain & ovarian cancer, at the Université de Paris & Muséum national d’histoire naturelle he studied cancer and malaria and at UNC he researched immunomodulation by the endocannabinoid system.
