Ganoderma lucidum inhibits invasiveness of breast cancer cells

Journal of Cancer Integrative Medicine, winter 2004, Volume 2, Number 1

Veronika Slivova, BA; Tatiana Valachovicova, BS; Jiahua Jiang, PhD; Daniel Sliva, PhD

Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi) is a popular Asian medical mushroom, which has been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat a variety of diseases. Although originally used as a mushroom for longevity, the dried powder of Ganoderma lucidum was recommended as a cancer chemotherapy agent in ancient China. Recent in vitro and animal studies have suggested that Ganoderma lucidum exhibits anticancer activity, mainly through stimulation of the host immune system by polysaccharides or by the cytotoxic effects of triterpenes. We have demonstrated that purified spores or fruiting body of Ganoderma lucidum down-regulated the expression of urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) and uPA receptor (uPAR), which resulted in the suppression of cell motility in cancer cells. In this study, we investigated how Ganoderma lucidum, in the form of a dietary supplement, can modulate the metastatic behavior of the highly invasive human breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231. Our data demonstrate that Ganoderma lucidum inhibits cell adhesion, cell migration, and cell invasion of highly metastatic breast cancer cells. Furthermore, Ganoderma lucidum suppressed the anchorage-independent growth (colony formation) of MDA-MB-231 cells. Based on these results, Ganoderma lucidum may contribute to reducing invasion and metastasis of breast cancers by inhibiting cancer cell adhesion, cell migration, cell invasion, and growth of cancer cells.