A research team headed by Yang Xinlin, a biologist from the Beijing University of Science and Engineering, announced its finding at the International Symposium on Frontiers of Tumor Prevention and Therapy held in Jinan, capital city of east China's Shangdong Province.

Scientists have isolated an acid in Ganoderma lucidum and found the component is able to "remarkably" restrain liver cancer cells from growing.

The control rate of the acid from Ganoderma lucidum on liver cancer reached 74.9 percent, said Xu Jianlan, a leading member of the research team.

Scientists treated laboratory mice with liver cancer with the component called Ganoderma lucidum Acid, and found it was less poisonous and had fewer side effects than ordinary chemical cancer treatments.

The ancient Chinese regarded Ganoderma lucidum as a herb that grows in heaven and in traditional Chinese medicine a valuable tonic is made from it.

(People's Daily October 17, 2002)