Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi) in cancer treatment.

The popular edible mushroom Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi) has been widely used for the general promotion of health and longevity in Asian countries. The dried powder of Ganoderma lucidum was popular as a cancer chemotherapy agent in ancient China. The authors recently demonstrated that Ganoderma lucidum inhibits constitutively active transcription factors nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) and AP-1, which resulted in the inhibition of expression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and its receptor uPAR. Ganoderma lucidum also suppressed cell adhesion and cell migration of highly invasive breast and prostate cancer cells, suggesting its potency to reduce tumor invasiveness. Thus, Ganoderma lucidum clearly demonstrates anticancer activity in experiments with cancer cells and has possible therapeutic potential as a dietary supplement for an alternative therapy for breast and prostate cancer. However, because of the availability of Ganoderma lucidum from different sources, it is advisable to test its biologic activity.