Mushrooms may have a greater calling than topping off a salad or spicing up a pizza.

Researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine are exploring a surprising new discovery: extracts from this flavorful fungus may aid in fighting off cancer.

“As researchers, we always hope our work will bring some benefits for cancer patients,” lead researcher Dr. Chang-Yan Chen said. “If we can do something for this disease in terms of human life, that’s always our goal.”

For Chen and her small group of researchers, that goal does not seem too far away.

For more than a year, Chen’s team has studied Phellinus linteus, extracts of an exotic mushroom known as “the elixir of long life.” The team combined the extracts, provided by Dr. Sung-Hoon Kim of Kyung Hee University, South Korea, with the common chemotherapy treatment doxorubicin. They then observed the combination’s effect on prostate cancer cells.

“We test if a fraction of [the extract] can affect the growth of cancer,” Chen said. “At a low dose, if you add a fraction of the mushroom it can increase the effect it has on cancer.”

Simply, the mushroom, known as “Song gen” in China and “Sang-hwang” in Korea, boosted the effectiveness of chemotherapy and lowered the dosage of chemotherapy needed to fight off the disease.

The team’s findings were published in the <<>>. While the discovery is exciting for scientists, Chen cautioned the research is still in the early stages. It could be years before the mushroom is considered for use in cancer treatments, she said.

“We have a hypothesis,” she said. “I’m excited about it. On the other hand, I’m very hesitant to say too much.”

Pathology doctorate candidate Lea Ann Collins, who was involved with the research, said the next step is to determine how and why the mushroom works against cancer.

“Just seeing that it’s working–having the good results–that’s always very exciting,” Collins said. “It could have real practical effects for real people.”

Though the mushroom is nowhere near close to approval for use among cancer patients, yet she remained optimistic.

“It could be developed into a drug in five to 20 years,” she said. “It could have real concrete benefits, and that’s heartwarming.”

Other tests performed in Asian and European countries have shown the mushroom extracts as highly effective in treating several types of cancer, as well as AIDS, diabetes and high blood pressure.