Review of the Bioactivities and Mechanisms of Fungus Extracts and Compounds in Colon Cancer

• Published in: Critical reviews in eukaryotic gene expression Vol. 35; no. 1; p. 37
• Main Authors: Liu, Xinze, Sun, Kaijing, Feng, Lin, Jin, Xin, Sun, Ying, Wu, Wei, Chen, Changbao, Wan, Xilin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 2025
• Subjects: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Apoptosis - drug effects; Cell Cycle Checkpoints - drug effects; Cell Proliferation - drug effects; Colonic Neoplasms - drug therapy; Fungi - drug effects; Humans
• ISSN: 1045-4403
• DOI: 10.1615/CritRevEukaryotGeneExpr.2024054308

Colon cancer, a malignant tumor caused by a malignant lesion of the colonic mucosal epithelium, has seen a high incidence in recent years. Fungi contain polysaccharides, terpenes, flavonoids, and other chemical components, and the diversity of these components determines the strength of a fungus's biological activity. Studies have shown that the chemical components in fungi can be used as drugs to inhibit the growth of colon cancer. All available information about the bioactivities and mechanisms of fungus extracts and compounds in colon cancer in this review was supplied by library databases and electronic search (PubMed, ScienceDirect, CNKI, Web of Science, Google Scholar, etc.). Fungi exert significant anticancer effects on cell proliferation, cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, tumor growth, and protein expression. At present, most research focus is on cells and animal models. The inhibitory effects of the chemical components in fungi have been the subject of in vivo and in vitro studies, which are reviewed here. All reviewed studies reported significant improvements in humans and animals after intervention with fungal components. Here we provide a complete overview of this subject and summarize recent research findings.