Fermented Wheat Germ Extract

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This section does not replicate the other information on this topic but provides additional details or context most relevant to professionals.

Further evidence

Improving treatment outcomes: preclinical evidence

FWGE enhanced the efficacy of several conventional treatments in preclinical studies.

• Reduced tumor size and metastasis with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or dacarbazine (DTIC) in mouse models ¹Mueller T, Voigt W. Fermented wheat germ extract—nutritional supplement or anticancer drug? Nutrition Journal. 2011 Sep 5;10:89; Mueller T, Jordan K, Voigt W. Promising cytotoxic activity profile of fermented wheat germ extract (Avemar®) in human cancer cell lines. Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research. 2011 Apr 16;30(1):42.
• Breast cancer: enhanced efficacy of tamoxifen in promoting apoptosis and decreasing ER activity in ER+ breast cancer cells ²Marcsek Z, Kocsis Z, Jakab M, Szende B, Tompa A. The efficacy of tamoxifen in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer cells is enhanced by a medical nutriment. Cancer Biother Radiopharm. 2004 Dec;19(6):746-53.
• Ovarian cancer: enhanced cytotoxicity of cisplatin and docetaxel in human ovarian cancer cell lines ³Judson PL, Al Sawah E et al. Characterizing the efficacy of fermented wheat germ extract against ovarian cancer and defining the genomic basis of its activity. International Journal of Gynecological Cancer. 2012 Jul;22(6):960-7; Wang CW, Wang CK et al. Preclinical evaluation on the tumor suppression efficiency and combination drug effects of fermented wheat germ extract in human ovarian carcinoma cells. Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2015;2015:570785.

Optimizing your body terrain: preclinical evidence

• Immune function: linked to an altered immune response ⁴Mueller T, Voigt W. Fermented wheat germ extract—nutritional supplement or anticancer drug? Nutrition Journal. 2011 Sep 5;10:89. and enhanced immune activity, resulting in death of tumor cells in animal studies ⁵Mueller T, Voigt W. Fermented wheat germ extract—nutritional supplement or anticancer drug? Nutrition Journal. 2011 Sep 5;10:89; Telekes A, Hegedus M, Chae CH, Vékey K. Avemar (wheat germ extract) in cancer prevention and treatment. Nutrition and Cancer. 2009;61(6):891-9.
• Metabolism: linked to increased normal function of mitochondria, restoring normal metabolism and cell death processes, without any general or liver-specific toxic effects with A250 (a highly purified fraction of FWGE) in cell studies ⁶Bencze G, Bencze S et al. Mito-oncology agent: fermented extract suppresses the Warburg effect, restores oxidative mitochondrial activity, and inhibits in vivo tumor growth. Scientific Reports. 2020 Aug 25;10(1):14174.

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