# Agaricus blazei mushroom

Source: https://onco.cc/technologies/agaricus-blazei/  
OnCo record `agaricus-blazei` (Technology). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Agaricus blazei is a Brazilian mushroom sold in Japan and elsewhere as a cancer remedy. Small studies suggest better quality of life during chemotherapy, but none showed longer survival, and liver damage and deaths have been reported in people taking it. Some samples contained high levels of arsenic.

## Summary

Agaricus blazei Murrill is an edible mushroom cultivated in Japan for medicinal use. Memorial Sloan Kettering's About Herbs page reports antidiabetic and antiproliferative effects in the laboratory and limited human studies: better natural killer cell activity and quality of life in women with gynaecological cancers on chemotherapy, better quality of life in people in remission, and immune changes without survival improvement in multiple myeloma; it gave no benefit in elderly women. Against that, MSK records liver damage and deaths following consumption, an association with hepatic dysfunction in cancer patients, cheilitis, and laboratory samples with high levels of inorganic arsenic. The extract has oestrogen-like activity in vitro, so people with hormone-sensitive cancers are advised to discuss it with their doctor, and it inhibits CYP3A4 in vitro, which could raise levels of drugs cleared by that enzyme. The grade reflects the reported liver injury and contamination.

## Fields

- Kind: Technology
- Status: phase-2
- Last checked: 2026-11-04
- Tags: complementary; supportive-care; evidence:harm
- Principle: Beta-glucans and other polysaccharides with immune and antiangiogenic effects in laboratory models.
- Strengths: Some small human studies during chemotherapy
- Limitations: Liver damage and deaths reported; Arsenic found in samples; Oestrogen-like activity in vitro; No survival benefit shown

## Sources

- MSK About Herbs: Agaricus (page last updated 10 February 2022): https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/agaricus

## Connected records

- technologies: [AHCC (active hexose correlated compound)](https://onco.cc/technologies/ahcc-shiitake-extract/), [Dietary supplements during cancer treatment: interactions and harms](https://onco.cc/technologies/dietary-supplements-treatment-interactions/), [Evidence-based integrative oncology](https://onco.cc/technologies/integrative-oncology/), [MGN-3 (rice bran arabinoxylan, BioBran)](https://onco.cc/technologies/mgn-3-rice-bran-arabinoxylan/)
- fronts: [Diet, Exercise & Lifestyle](https://onco.cc/fronts/nutrition-lifestyle/), [Supportive Care & Survivorship](https://onco.cc/fronts/supportive-care/)
- terms: [Unproven diet claims (alkaline, juice, 'anti-cancer' diets)](https://onco.cc/terms/unproven-diet-claims/)
- bottlenecks: [Misinformation and unproven therapies](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-misinformation/)

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