Glucans as new anticancer agents

Abstract

For decades, glucans have been studied for their biological and immunological activities. The scientific community has mainly focused on immune reactions, but other areas, such as cholesterol levels and diabetic retinopathy, have shown the positive effects of glucan supplementation. However, the majority of studies focused on possible cancer suppression, where glucans showed clear and significant effects on numerous types of cancers, leading not only to clinical trials, but to approval as an official drug. The aim of this review is to describe the current knowledge of this field.