Selected Vegetables/Sun's Soup

This complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) information summary provides an overview of the use of Selected Vegetables/Sun’s Soup as an anticancer treatment. The summary includes a brief history of Selected Vegetables/Sun’s Soup.

This summary contains the following key information:

• “Selected Vegetables” and “Sun’s Soup” are names given to several different mixtures of vegetables and herbs that have been studied as treatments for cancer. These mixtures were developed by a single individual.
  
  
• At present, 2 formulations of Selected Vegetables/Sun’s Soup are marketed in the United States as dietary supplements.
  
  
• The vegetables and herbs in Selected Vegetables/Sun’s Soup are thought to have anticancer and/or immune-system–stimulating properties.
  
  
• It has been reported that treatment with Selected Vegetables/Sun’s Soup lengthened the survival of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer or other types of malignant tumours. However, different formulations of Selected Vegetables/Sun’s Soup were used in the studies reported to date, making the comparison of results across studies difficult, and design weaknesses in the studies raise doubts about the reliability of the findings.
  
  
• Additional clinical studies of Selected Vegetables/Sun’s Soup are being conducted or contemplated.

General Information

“Selected Vegetables” and “Sun’s Soup” are names given to several different mixtures of vegetables and herbs that have been studied as treatments for cancer and other medical conditions, including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The original formulation contained shiitake mushroom (Lentinus edodes [Berk.] Singer), mung bean (Phaseolus radiatus L.), Hedyotis diffusa Willd. (also known by the Chinese herbal name Bai Hua She She Cao), and barbat skullcap (Scutellaria barbata D. Don, also known by the Chinese herbal name Ban Zhi Lian).

A second formulation, specifically named “Selected Vegetables” (or “SV”), was tested in a phase I/II clinical trial that involved patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. SV, which is a freeze-dried vegetable and herb product, is marketed in the United States as a dietary supplement under the names “Freeze-dried SV” or “DSV.”

A third formulation, called “Frozen SV” or “FSV,” has also been studied clinically in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. FSV, like SV/DSV, is marketed in the United States as a dietary supplement.

History

Selected Vegetables/Sun’s Soup was first conceived as a treatment for cancer in the mid-1980s. In an effort to help a relative who was diagnosed with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (metastasis to the left adrenal gland), the developer created a mixture that contained shiitake mushroom (Lentinus edodes [Berk.] Singer), mung bean (Phaseolus radiatus L.), Hedyotis diffusa Willd., and barbat skullcap (Scutellaria barbata D. Don) in the belief that these plant materials had anticancer and/or immune-system–stimulating properties. After the relative appeared to benefit from this treatment (the relative was reported to be alive and cancer free more than 13 years later), 3 additional patients (1 with stage IV kidney cancer that had metastasized to the lungs, 1 with stage IV kidney cancer that had metastasized to the liver and to the lungs, and 1 with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer that had metastasized to the brain) were treated with a variant of the original mixture, i.e., a combination of shiitake mushroom and mung bean. (Note: No explanation has been given for the omission of Hedyotis diffusa and barbat skullcap for these patients.) These additional patients were also said to benefit from vegetable/herb treatment.

In June 1992, the developer filed a patent application for the “Herbal treatment of malignancy,” and a patent was awarded in August 1995. Also in June 1992, the developer initiated a clinical trial in the Czech Republic to test Selected Vegetables/Sun’s Soup as a treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer. A second clinical study (a nonconsecutive case series) that also involved patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer was completed in 1997. It is unclear, however, when patient accrual for this second study began. In both reports of the clinical study results, the authors concluded that patients who received Selected Vegetables/Sun’s Soup had prolonged survival.

In 1998, the developer reported at a scientific conference that additional patients with various other types of cancer had benefited from treatment with Selected Vegetables/Sun’s Soup.

The proposed mechanism of action for Selected Vegetables/Sun’s Soup involves anticancer and/or immune-system–stimulating activities associated with some of the ingredients. The following types of compounds likely found in Selected Vegetables/Sun’s Soup have been investigated for these activities: protease inhibitors and autoclave-resistant factor, which are found in soybeans (Glycine max L. Merr.); plant sterols; saponin; inositol hexaphosphate (IP6); beta-glucans; lectins; coumestans such as coumestrol; and isoflavones such as daidzein, genistein, biochanin A, and formononetin.

One beta-glucan found in shiitake mushroom, i.e., lentinan, has been used as an adjunctive therapy for cancer (primarily gastric cancer and colorectal cancer) in Japan. Treatment with lentinan has been reported to prolong the survival of patients with gastric cancer and to improve their quality of life. However, lentinan may not be an active component in Selected Vegetables/Sun’s Soup. This compound has a large molecular mass and is believed to have only limited oral bioavailability. Therefore, lentinan has usually been given by intravenous injection. Nonetheless, other substances in shiitake mushroom have been identified as having greater oral bioavailability, and these substances have shown anticancer activity in animal experiments.

Level of Evidence for Selected Vegetables/Sun's Soup

Existing data supporting the effectiveness of Selected Vegetables/Sun’s Soup as a treatment for cancer are limited and weak. To date, only 2 clinical studies have been reported in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. These studies tested the ability of Selected Vegetables/Sun’s Soup to prolong the survival of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Although ingestion of Selected Vegetables/Sun’s Soup was associated with improved survival in both studies, the results may not be reliable because of the small numbers of patients included the studies (i.e., a total of 18 evaluable patients) and because of other major weaknesses in the designs of the studies.

Furthermore, different formulations of Selected Vegetables/Sun’s Soup were used in the 2 studies, making a comparison of the results difficult. Information about the effectiveness of Selected Vegetables/Sun’s Soup as a treatment for other types of cancer is found only in anecdotal reports, and no information is available about the safety or the efficacy of this treatment approach in paediatric patients.

Additional larger, well-designed clinical studies that test identical formulations of vegetables and herbs are necessary to determine more clearly whether Selected Vegetables/Sun’s Soup can be useful in the treatment of non-small cell lung and other types of cancer.

Adverse Effects

The only reported adverse effect with the use of Selected Vegetables/Sun’s Soup was a feeling of fullness or bloatedness when DSV was consumed in the amount specified in the phase I/II clinical trial. No adverse effects were reported after ingestion of FSV.