Primary Uses of Medicinal Fungi
The following list gives an indication of some of the main mushroom species with major medicinal benefits. The list is far from complete demonstrating the enormous amount of research into medicinal mushrooms, particularly in the past decade or so.
Those in bold are either particularly well studied, or have potent effect.
See also
Anti-bacterial
Those effective against gram + are marked with (+)
Those effective against gram – are marked with (–)
Agaricus arvensis (+, –)
Agaricus bisporus (+, –)
Agaricus campestris (+, –)
Agaricus xanthoderma
Armillaria mellea (+, –)
Boletus edulis (+, –)
Calvatia gigantea (+, –)
Cantharellus cibarius
Clitocybe alexandri (+, –)
Dendropolyporus umbellatus
Flammulina velutipes (+)
Fomes formentarius
Fomitopsis pimicola (+)
Ganoderma lucidum (+, –)
Anti-histamine / Anti-allergy
Agaricus subrufescens
Ganoderma lucidum
Immune enhancing
Agaricus subrufescens
Grifola frondosa
Inonotus obliquus
Pleurotus eryngii
Polyporus umbellatus
Treatment of Cancer with Fungi
Probably the most important and promising use of medicinal Fungi is in Cancer treatment. A number of Medicinal Fungi have shown potent or broad-spectrum Anti-Cancer effects with direct inhibition of tested Cancer cell lines. Most of the medicinal Fungi, especially the Polypores, have shown immunomodulatory and immune stimulating effects largely due to their polysaccharide content, and this is direcly although not solely related to their positive effects in Cancer therapy.
The following is a brief list and generally related to tested cancer cell lines. In some cases, only 1–3 cancer cell lines were used to test Anti-Cancer effects. Therefore this does not necessarily mean the effects will translate in clinical treatment. It also means that various other cancers may be used by these mushrooms other than those listed. Nevertheless, a number of these mushrooms have shown potent effect against various cell lines, and some have been widely used in cancer treatment in countries such as China, Japan, Korea and Russia. Some Fungi extracts have been approved for use as an adjunct in Cancer therapy in these countries. Polysaccharide-K (PSK), marketed as Krestin, derived from Trametes versicolor is one example.
Broad Spectrum Anti-cancer
Usually multiple effects including immunostimulating. Those marked with ‘X’ have been developed into accepted or license Cancer therapies in certain countries.
Agaricus subrufescens
Fomes formentarius
Ganoderma lucidum X
Inonotus obliquus X
Laricifomes officinalis (Agarikon)
Schizophyllum commune X
Trametes versicolor X
Anti-tumor
Agaricus bisporus
Agaricus blazei
Agaricus subrufescens
Amanita virosa
Astraeus hygrometricus
Auricularia auricula-judas
Coprinellus micaceus
Clavariadelphus truncatus
Cladonia furcata
Clitocybe alexandri
Cordyceps militaris
Dendropolyporus umbellatus
Flammulina velutipes
Fomes formentarius
Fomitopsis pimicola
Ganoderma applanatum
Ganoderma lucidum
Grifola frondosa
Hericium erinaceus
Inonotus obliquus
Laricifomes officinalis (Agarikon)
Lentinus edodes
Leucopaxillus giganteus
Meripilus giganteus
Omphalotus olearius
Phellinus linteus
Phellinus rimosus
Pholiota spumosa
Piptoporus betulinus
Pleurotus ostreatus
Polyporus umbellatus
Schizophyllum commune
Shiitake
Trametes versicolor
Tremella fuciformis
Volvariella volvacea
Bladder Cancer
Phellinus Linteus
Polyporus umbellatus
Poria cocos
Brain Cancer
Grifola frondosa
Inonotus obliquus
Breast Cancer
Fomes formentarius
Ganoderma lucidum (Estrogen dependent)
Grifola frondosa
Lentinus edodes
Phellinus linteus (Estrogen dependent)
Trametes versicolor
Cervical, Ovarian, Endometrial
Agaricus blazei
Agaricus subrufescens (Ovary, Endometrial)
PSK (Ovary, Endometrial)
Schizophyllum commune (licensed for use in Japan for Cervical Cancer with good results in Stage II but not stage III)
Colorectal Cancer
Agaricus sylvaticus
Fomes formentarius
Ganoderma lucidum
Lentinus edodes
Trametes versicolor
Esophageal Cancer
Fomes formentarius
Trametes versicolor
Gastric Cancer
Fomes formentarius
Lentinus edodes
PSK
Trametes versicolor
Hepatic Cancer
Agaricus subrufescens
Ganoderma lucidum
Grifola frondosa
Lentinus edodes
Phellinus Linteus
Polyporus umbellatus
Leukemia
Agaricus subrufescens
Cordyceps
Fomes formentarius
Ganoderma lucidum
Grifola frondosa
Poria cocos
PSK
Trametes versicolor
Lung Cancer
Agaricus subrufescens
Fomes formentarius
Ganoderma lucidum
Grifola frondosa
Laricifomes officinalis (Agarikon)
Phellinus Linteus
Trametes versicolor
Lymphoma
Ganoderma lucidum
Trametes versicolor
Myeloma
Agaricus blazei (82%) +Hericium erinaceus (14.7%) + Grifola frondosa (2.9%)
Pancreatic Cancer
Ganoderma lucidum
Omphalotus olearius (cytotoxic component from)
Poria cocos
Prostate Cancer
Agaricus bisporus
Agaricus subrufescens
Ganoderma lucidum
Flammulina velutipes (Androgen dependent)
Lentinus edodes
Phellinus Linteus
Pleurotus ostreatus (Androgen dependent)
Trametes versicolor
- PubMed Central (Research Database)
- Paul Stamets, https://fungi.com/
- Medicinal Mushrooms: Their therapeutic properties and current medical usage with special emphasis on cancer treatments, Smith, Rowan and Sullivan, May 2002
- Healing with Medicinal Mushrooms, Dr Walter Ardigo, 2017
- Encyclopedia of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhou et al, Springer, 2011
- Inonotus obliguus as medical fungi in Russia, Zhang et al., Int J Trad Chin Med, March 2019, Vol. 41, No.3
- Medicinal mushrooms as an attractive new source of natural compounds for future cancer therapy
- The Pharmacological Potential of Mushrooms
- Medicinal mushrooms: Towards a new horizon
