Advertisements suggesting cancer can be cured by ling zhi and yun zhi mushrooms are misleading, medical experts said yesterday.
Speaking at a symposium on the mushrooms, the experts said they were only supplements in the battle against cancer.
'All the adverts suggesting that the two mushrooms can cure cancer are misleading,' said Dr Wesley Shiu Cho-tak, consultant in oncology at the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital.
He reminded the public that the products had not gone through quality control and had no medical proof.
He said tests on mice showed the mushrooms could suppress the growth of tumours, but could not cure cancer.
Professor Lin Zhi-bin, of Beijing Medical University, said clinical trials on the mushrooms found they could stabilise patients' white blood cells after chemotherapy and helped prevent complications.