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International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms

ISSN for PRINT: 1521-9437

Institutional price:	$538.00
Issues per year:	4

Best Paper Award Selection - Editorial Board Site

2004, Volume6

104 pages

DOI: 10.1615/IntJMedMushr.v6.i2

Issue price - $128.00

Chemopreventive and Tumoricidal Properties of Ling Zhi Mushroom Ganoderma lucidum (W. Curt.:Fr.) Lloyd (Aphyllophoromycetideae). Part I. Preclinical and Clinical Studies (Review)

Yihuai Gao
Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health, Massey University; Landcare Research, Private Bag 92170, Auckland, New Zealand

Wenbo Tank
New Zealand Institute of Natural Medicines, Auckland, New Zealand

He Gao
Division of Traditional Chinese Medicine, New Zealand Institute of Natural Medicines, Auckland, New Zealand

Jin Lan
Institute of Human Nutrition and Department of Biochemistry, Qingdao Medical College, Qingdao University, China

Shufeng Zhou
Division of Pharmacy, School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland 4001, Australia; and Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore, Singapore

ABSTRACT

There is an increasing interest in identifying effective and safe constituents from medicinal mushrooms for cancer prevention and treatment. Ganoderma lucidum has been used for this purpose, which is given as a single agent, or in combination with herbs or synthetic chemotherapeutic agents. Various polysaccharides (in particular β-D-glucans and glycoproteins) and triterpenoids have been found to be the major active constituents responsible for the chemopreventive and tumoricidal activity of G. lucidum. These compounds exerted promising cancer preventive and anticancer activity in animal (mouse and rat) studies. However, randomized, placebo-controlled, and multicenter clinical studies using G. lucidum have rarely been reported. In a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical study, 38 (26.6%) of 143 cancer patients had stable disease for 12 weeks or more (range, 12−50 weeks) when treated with Ganoply (a G. lucidum polysaccharide extract) orally at 1800 mg three times daily for 12 weeks. Palliative effects on cancer-related symptoms, such as sweating and insomnia, have been observed in many patients. Ganopoly was well tolerated, with five moderate adverse events recorded. These initial findings indicate that G. lucidum may represent a practical and promising approach for cancer prevention and cancer treatment. Further studies are required to establish the relationship between G. lucidum intake dose and cancer risks and to investigate the efficacy and safety when used alone or in combination with chemotherapy.