Title:The Use of Lentinan for Treating Gastric Cancer
Volume: 13
Issue: 5
Author(s): Kenji Ina, Takae Kataoka and Takafumi Ando
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Gastric cancer, β-glucan, Lentinan.
Abstract: Natural compounds containing fungal β-glucans have been used to improve general health for thousands of years in China and
Japan. Lentinan, the backbone of β-(1, 3)-glucan with β-(1, 6) branches, is one of the active ingredients purified from Shiitake
mushrooms and has been approved as a biological response modifier for the treatment of gastric cancer in Japan. Despite recent advances
in chemotherapeutic agents, unresectable or recurrent gastric cancer remains an incurable disease, with survival rates being far from
satisfactory. Recent clinical studies have shown that chemo-immunotherapy using lentinan prolongs the survival of patients with
advanced gastric cancer, as compared to chemotherapy alone. In addition, trastuzumab, an antibody against HER2/neu growth factor
receptor, has been used for the treatment of gastric cancer in combination with cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents. Lentinan may exert a
synergistic action with anti-cancer monoclonal antibodies to activate complement systems through the mechanism of antibody-dependent
cellular cytotoxicity and complement dependent cytotoxicity. Because a better understanding of its biological activities should enable us
to use lentinan more efficiently in the treatment of gastric cancer, immunological effects provided by β-glucans, a possible mode of
action of lentinan, and its clinical application including future potential uses are discussed in the present review.