Worldwide, cervical cancer is the fourth most common malignancy in women and a major cause of morbidity and mortality. It accounts for nearly 10% of all cancers. The etiology of cervical cancer has been identified and confirmed associated with high risk-human papillomavirus (HR-HPV). When HR-HPV infections persist overtime, patients have an increased risk of developing cervical cancer The proprietary, a standardized extract of cultured Lentinula edodes mycelia (ECLM), AHCC®, was developed in Japan in 1992. Several studies have reported a variety of therapeutic effects, including antioxidant and anticancer activity and improvement of immune response.~As recently reported study on AHCC®, pre-clinical in vitro and in vivo evidence demonstrated its durable clearance of HR-HPV infections. The preliminary data from the two pilot studies suggested that AHCC® supplementation supports the host immune system for successful clearance of HR-HPV infections. A confirmatory phase II randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study is about completion. The preliminary results of this phase II study confirmed data observed in pilot studies that AHCC® supplementation for at least 6 months is associated with a 60% successful elimination of HPV infections and confirmed IFN-β correlates with clearance of persistent HPV infections. The optimal duration of AHCC® supplementation required after the first negative result still needs more evaluation in future clinical studies.~Nevertheless, all above mentioned studies have included western participants solely. The aim of this study is to evaluate the clearance capacity of AHCC® on Chinese female participants with diagnosis of HR-HPV infection.
This is a multi-centre, randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled study on female participants with diagnosis of high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infection to evaluate the clearance capacity of AHCC®.