Abstract

Cancer is the second leading cause of mortality globally after cardiovascular diseases. It is attributed to various genetic and epigenetic changes in the genome, while lifestyle and environmental factors have a say in its rate of progression. Conventional agents like chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgical interventions though successful to some extent, are always associated with toxic side effects. A promising alternative could be herbs that form a part of our daily consumption. Mushrooms consumed worldwide have been found to be a treasure of macromolecules like β-glucan, α-glucan, resveratrol, concanavalin A, cibacron blue affinity protein, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, ergosterol, linoleic acid, etc. that are responsible for mediating anti-tumor, immunomodulatory, antioxidant and anti-diabetic roles. Various experiments have demonstrated the potential of mushrooms as an anti-cancer agent. This chapter summarizes the effect of mushroom extracts and bioactive constituents against various hallmarks of cancer like sustained proliferation, evading apoptosis, angiogenesis, immune evasion and metastasis, along with underlying mechanisms. At the end of the chapter, we also talked about what still can be done and where we need to focus so that future studies can add to the already existing knowledge about this natural reservoir of anti-cancer compounds.