Polysaccharides from medicinal mushrooms and their antitumor activities

Abstract

Cancer is a main burden of disease worldwide since the past decades. About 11 million cancer cases are added every year. Cancer is also called malignant tumor which developed as abnormal cells in the body. And once the patient is diagnosed with a malignant tumor in the body, the survival ratios are very low. Thus, prevention and curation for tumor have become a significant part in tumor scientific research and disease control all over the world. Surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy are the three dominant methods to treat tumor in recent decades. Among these treatments, chemotherapy is most frequently used. However, as these treatments have serious side effects in tumor carriers, efforts have been made to search other nontoxic biological macromolecules that have antitumor properties. Polysaccharides are one of the most important components in organic compounds and widely involved in many biological phenomena. Mushrooms have been valued as edible and medical provision for mankind for thousands years. Due to its diversity and diverse distributions, its medicinal values are utilized by folks, especially in China and Japan. In recent years, special attentions are paid to mushroom-derived polysaccharides. Evidences have shown that mushroom polysaccharides have direct and indirect antitumor activities, mostly by way of immunomodulation. This chapter will discuss several aspects of mushroom polysaccharides such as its bioactivities, antitumor mechanisms, toxicity, and also the clinical trials conducted. The main aims of this review are to summarize the available information about mushroom polysaccharides and give a thorough understanding in this area and thus provide references for research and application in antitumor in the future.