The effects of dietary supplementation with Agaricales mushrooms and other medicinal fungi on breast cancer: Evidence-based medicine

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer in women. The most frequent therapeutic approaches for the treatment of this disease are chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormone therapy, and surgery. Conventional pharmacological treatments cause many harmful side effects in patients. To improve the quality of life of breast cancer patients, researchers have sought alternative adjuvant treatment strategies. To assess the effects of fungi and other basidiomycetes Agaricales on the co-adjuvant treatment of breast cancer, we conducted a literary review of the available scientific evidence. We selected articles published in refereed journals from 1990 to 2011 in Medline, Lilacs, CAPES, Scielo, and Pubmed. Articles written in English, Spanish, and Portuguese were reviewed. We used the following descriptors: Agaricales, medicinal mushroom/fungus, breast cancer, dietary supplementation, synonyms, and related terms. The pharmacological effects of nutritional and medicinal mushrooms have been reported in several experimental clinical studies and have shown promising results in the adjuvant treatment of breast cancer. Adjuvant treatment with mushrooms is associated with improvements in the immunological and hematologic parameters of breast cancer, as well as in the quality of life of these patients. Randomized clinical studies are needed to elucidate the possible mechanisms of action and clinical benefits of these fungi with respect to survival time, disease progression, and metastasis in breast cancer.

Composition and Biological Properties of Agaricus bisporus Fruiting Bodies- a Review

“…In patients treated with ergosterol, a delay in tumor growth has been obtained along with minimal side effects. In patients under chemotherapy, extracts rich in ergosterol did not induce any adverse effects on the level of lymphocytes [Novaes et al, 2011].…”

Study of physiologically active components in different parts of fruiting bodies of varieties of Agaricus bisporus (white mushroom)

“…The most important features of A. bisporus are its dietary and healing properties resulting from the rich composition of metabolites and biologically active elements. It is a rich source of dietary fiber (chitin) and contains exogenous and endogenous amino acids, digestible protein, compounds with significant antioxidant activity (sterols, phenolic, and indole compounds), vitamins (especially vitamin D), and bioelements (e.g., selenium, zinc) [3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. The antioxidant activity of A. bisporus is also related to the presence of histidine derivative, ergothioneine [10].…”

Effect of Agaricus sylvaticus supplementation on nutritional status and adverse events of chemotherapy of breast cancer: A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial

“…[1] The Brazilian Ministry of Health estimates an increase in the incidence with more than 49,000 new cases in next 5 years. [2] Different studies have been carried out to identify the risk factors associated with BC.…”

“…[34] A relationships between diet and cancer as well as other chronic non-transmissible diseases has also been suggested. [1]…”

“…Adjuvant therapies, like dietary supplementation with Agaricus sylvaticus , could be useful to overcome these side-effects[156] and the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation with A. sylvaticus on clinical and nutritional status.…”