Melanoma and AHCC (ImmPower)

AHCC is a hybrid of several species of medicinal mushrooms that was developed in Japan. It is usually known under its brand name, ImmPower™.

AHCC has been used by many people who believe it helps prevent and kill cancer cells. It has also been used to mitigate side effects from chemotherapy and help enhance the effect of chemotherapy. Here are some examples of how AHCC (ImmPower) has been used:

• Used as an anti-oxidant ⁽¹⁾
• Used to resist bacterial infections ⁽²⁾
• Improve the response of T cells (which can help fight melanoma) ⁽³⁾
• Enhance natural killer (NK) cell activity in vitro and induces endogenous IL-12 in mice ⁽⁴⁾. Since NK cells and IL-2 are helpful in fighting melanoma, this suggested that AHCC may be helpful.
• It also showed in mice to be enhance the effectiveness of Cisplatin (a chemo drug often used in bio-chemo regimens for fighting melanoma) and reduce the negative side effects.⁽⁵⁾
• Significantly delay the onset of melanoma in mice, and help produce anti-cancer responses. ⁽⁶⁾

While no significant human studies have been done, the studies below suggest that suggests that AHCC (ImmPower) may be helpful in fighting melanoma, and clinical experience has also shown this. Further, as there are few side effects, the risk of taking it is not high, particularly after the standard medical treatments are finished. You can read more about AHCC here.

Read more details about AHCC (ImmPower).

(1) Ye SF, Ichimura K, Wakame K, Ohe M. Suppressive effects of Active Hexose Correlated Compound on the increased activity of hepatic and renal ornithine decarboxylase induced by oxidative stress. Life Sci. Dec 19 2003;74(5):593-602.

(2) Aviles H, Belay T, Fountain K, Vance M, Sun B, Sonnenfeld G. Active hexose correlated compound enhances resistance to Klebsiella pneumoniae infection in mice in the hind limb-unloading model of spaceflight conditions. J Appl Physiol. Aug 2003;95(2):491-496.

(3) Yin Z, Fujii H, Waishe T. Effects of active hexose correlated compound on frequency of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells producing interferon-ã and/or tumor necrosis factor-á in healthy adults. Hum Immunol. 2010 Dec;71(12):1187-90.

(4) Yagita A, Maruyama S, Wakasugi S, Sukegawa Y. H-2 haplotype-dependent serum IL-12 production in tumor-bearing mice treated with various mycelial extracts. In Vivo. Jan-Feb 2002;16(1):49-54.

(5) Shigama K, Nakaya A, Wakame K, Nishioka H, Fujii H. Alleviating effect of active hexose correlated compound (AHCC) for anticancer drug-induced side effects in non-tumor-bearing mice. Amino Up Chemical Co., Ltd., 363-32 Shin-ei, Kiyota, Sapporo 004-0839, Japan.

(6) Gao Y, Zhang D, Sun B, Fujii H, Kosuna K, Yin Z. Active hexose correlated compound enhances tumor surveillance through regulating both innate and adaptive immune responses. Section of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, CAB Building, Room 517, 300 Cedar Street, 208031, New Haven, CT 06520-8031, USA.