Researchers find fungus used in traditional medicine can fight cancer

Chinese scientists have found evidence that a fungus used in traditional Chinese medicine widely sought by the public for its healing powers, also carries anti-cancer benefits.

The scientists found there was an interaction between two anti-cancer compounds in the fungus Cordyceps militaris.

The first, cordycepin, was noted in Cordyceps militaris in 1950, but how it interacted remained unknown. The second, pentostatin, was first identified from a bacterium and was developed as a commercial drug to treat leukemia and other cancers in the 1990s.