A short-chain plant fiber made by treating rice bran with shiitake mushroom enzymes, sold as a food supplement. The human record is narrow: longer survival in early liver cancer alongside liver-directed treatment, better patient-rated wellbeing during drug treatment. Safety is the firmest part. Main hazards are indirect — arsenic from rice bran, and substituting it for treatment that works. (Full Review)
| Marker | Target | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Natural killer cell cytotoxic activity | No established target; track change from own baseline | The proposed primary mechanism |
| Absolute neutrophil count | 2.0–4.0 ×10⁹/L | Infection-fighting capacity |
| Alanine aminotransferase | < 25 U/L | Hepatic safety |
| Aspartate aminotransferase | < 25 U/L | The enzyme that fell in the pooled analysis |
| High-sensitivity C-reactive protein | < 1.0 mg/L | Inflammatory burden the compound is proposed to lower |
| Erythrocyte sedimentation rate | < 10 mm/hour (men), < 15 mm/hour (women) | Fell in the blood cancer study |
| Serum albumin | 4.2–5.0 g/dL | Nutritional status |
| Disease-specific tumor marker (alpha-fetoprotein, prostate-specific antigen or cancer antigen 15-3) | No established target; track trajectory against own baseline | The only direct read on tumor burden |
| 25-hydroxyvitamin D | 40–60 ng/mL | Deficiency independently suppresses natural killer cell function and would confound any response |
Cadence: Baseline panel before the first dose; full blood count, liver enzymes and inflammatory markers repeated at 6 and 12 weeks, then every 3 months while supplementation continues. Natural killer cell activity repeated once at 8–12 weeks. Tumor markers follow the oncology schedule.