Cancer induction studies with the lyophilized agaricus bisporus abi mushroom

The aim of the study is to reveal the possible carcinogenicity of the lyophilized AB mushroom The lyophilized powdered mushroom is mixed with a semisynthetic diet and administered at 10%, 5% and 2.5% dose levels to randomly bred Swiss mice for life Dietary adjustments for each lyophilized mushroom concentration are made to ensure that the mice consume equivalent calorie intake. Each group consists of 100 animals (50 ?, 50 <f) which were 6 weeks old at the beginning of the study Currently the experiments are 131, 101 and 85 weeks old and 7, 31 and 72 mice are still alive, respectively. The body weights of the lyophilized mushroomtreated mice are steadily increased when compared to an untreated control group To date, the incidences of tumors in the blood vessels and lungs appears to be increased in the 10% and 5% lyophilized mushroom-treated groups when compared to the controls In addition, tumors were detected at unusual sites, including cecum and ovaries in the mushroom-treated animals, where neoplasms rarely occur in the untreated controls Histopathologically, the lesions are classified as both benign and malignant neoplasms In view of the fact that a certain amount of AB is consumed by humans in the US in lyophilized form, the study may carry practical implications (Supported by grant CA31611 from the National Cancer Institute, USPHS).