Bentharavithana Jinangi, Islam Tahidul, Xu Baojun
Food Science and Technology Program, Department of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal-Hong Kong Baptist University, Zhuhai 519085, China.
Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya 20400, Sri Lanka.
Int J Mol Sci. 2025 May 31;26(11):5304. doi: 10.3390/ijms26115304.
Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the world. This is commonly observed among older adults, and the occurrence of colon cancer is mainly influenced by unhealthy lifestyle factors. Edible medicinal mushrooms have been demonstrated to have anti-colon cancer effects both individually and in combination with conventional therapies, including synergistically enhancing the efficacy of chemotherapy medications such as 5-fluorouracil in preclinical models. Medicinal mushrooms such as , , , , , , , , and are emerging as promising candidates, not only because conventional treatments for colon cancer face significant limitations, including side effects, psychological impacts on patients, high cost, limited specificity toward cancer and healthy cells, and the development of drug resistance, but also due to the diverse array of bioactive compounds present within them. Therefore, there is a strong demand for innovative, affordable, and minimally invasive treatments such as medicinal mushrooms. Their bioactive compounds, including terpenoids, sterols, phenols, polysaccharides, acids, sesquiterpenes, alkaloids, lactones, metal-chelating agents, nucleotide analogs, glycoproteins, β-glucan, cerebrosides, steroids, terpenes, quinolones, anthraquinones, benzoic acid derivatives, linoleic acid, ascorbic acid, glycosides, organic acids, flavonoids, grifolin, tocopherols, proteins, indoles, lectin, and laccases, exert anti-colon cancer activities through various mechanisms, including anti-proliferative effects, cell cycle arrest, anti-inflammatory effects, antioxidant effects, induction of apoptosis, cytotoxic effects, and antimigratory effects. Further research is needed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms and confirm the safety and efficacy of medicinal mushrooms as a holistic anti-colon cancer treatment.
结肠癌是全球癌症相关死亡的第二大主要原因。这在老年人中较为常见，结肠癌的发生主要受不健康生活方式因素的影响。食用药用蘑菇已被证明单独或与传统疗法联合使用时具有抗结肠癌作用，包括在临床前模型中协同增强化疗药物（如5-氟尿嘧啶）的疗效。诸如香菇、灵芝、云芝、桦褐孔菌、桑黄、茯苓、猪苓、雷丸和马勃等药用蘑菇正成为有前景的候选物，这不仅是因为结肠癌的传统治疗面临重大局限性，包括副作用、对患者的心理影响、高成本、对癌细胞和健康细胞的特异性有限以及耐药性的产生，还因为它们含有多种生物活性化合物。因此，对诸如药用蘑菇这类创新、经济且微创的治疗方法有强烈需求。它们的生物活性化合物，包括萜类化合物、甾醇、酚类、多糖、酸类、倍半萜、生物碱、内酯、金属螯合剂、核苷酸类似物、糖蛋白、β-葡聚糖、脑苷脂、类固醇、萜烯、喹诺酮、蒽醌、苯甲酸衍生物、亚油酸、抗坏血酸、糖苷、有机酸、黄酮类化合物、环磷酰胺、生育酚、蛋白质、吲哚、凝集素和漆酶，通过多种机制发挥抗结肠癌活性，包括抗增殖作用、细胞周期阻滞、抗炎作用、抗氧化作用、诱导凋亡、细胞毒性作用和抗迁移作用。需要进一步研究以阐明分子机制，并确认药用蘑菇作为整体抗结肠癌治疗方法的安全性和有效性。
