A mushroom used for centuries in eastern Asian medicine may improve the effects of a chemotherapy drug, according to research published in the British Journal of Cancer yesterday.

Scientists at Boston University tested the effect of extracts of a type of mushroom called Phellinus linteus on prostate cancer cells and found it increased the number of cancer cells killed when combined with the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin. The findings suggest the extract could be used one day with existing chemotherapy to boost the effectiveness of the treatment in some patients.