Novel Medicinal Mushroom Blend as a Promising Supplement in Integrative Oncology: A Multi-Tiered Study using 4T1 Triple-Negative Mouse Breast Cancer Model

Laboratory of Clinical & Experimental Toxicology, Pavia Poison Centre, National Toxicology, Information Centre, Toxicology Unit, ICS Maugeri SpA, IRCCS Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy

Clinica Veterinaria Curti Maria Grazia, 26841 Casalpusterlengo (LO), Italy

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Department of Mental and Physical Health and Preventive Medicine, Pathology Unit, Università della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80138 Napoli, Italy

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Gruppo Oncologico Ricercatori Italiani, GORI onlus, 33170 Pordenone, Italy

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Department of Medical Oncology, Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico (CRO), 33081 Aviano (PN), Italy

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Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Jamnikarjeva ulica 101, Ljubljana, Slovenia

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Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21(10), 3479; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21103479

Received: 29 April 2020 / Revised: 11 May 2020 / Accepted: 12 May 2020 / Published: 14 May 2020

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Breast Cancer: From Pathophysiology to Novel Therapeutic Approaches)

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Abstract

Although medicinal mushroom extracts have been proposed as promising anti-cancer agents, their precise impacts on metastatic breast cancer are still to be clarified. For this purpose, the present study exploited the effect of a novel medicinal mushroom blend, namely Micotherapy U-care, in a 4T1 triple-negative mouse breast cancer model. Mice were orally administered with Micotherapy U-care, consisting of a mixture of Agaricus blazei, Ophiocordyceps sinensis, Ganoderma lucidum, Grifola frondosa, and Lentinula edodes. The syngeneic tumor-bearing mice were generated by injecting 4T1 cells in both supplemented and non-supplemented mice. After sacrifice 35 days later, specific endpoints and pathological outcomes of the murine pulmonary tissue were evaluated. (i) Histopathological and ultrastructural analysis and (ii) immunohistochemical assessment of TGF-ß1, IL-6 and NOS2, COX2, SOD1 as markers of inflammation and oxidative stress were performed. The QoL was comparatively evaluated. Micotherapy U-care supplementation, starting before 4T1 injection and lasting until the end of the experiment, dramatically reduced the pulmonary metastases density, also triggering a decrease of fibrotic response, and reducing IL-6, NOS, and COX2 expression. SOD1 and TGF-ß1 results were also discussed. These findings support the valuable potential of Micotherapy U-care as adjuvant therapy in the critical management of triple-negative breast cancer. View Full-Text

Keywords: mycotherapy; breast cancer; lung metastasis; in vivo; complementary medicine; Agaricus blazei; Ophiocordyceps sinensis; Ganoderma lucidum; Grifola frondosa; Lentinula edodes

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MDPI and ACS Style

Roda, E.; De Luca, F.; Di Iorio, C.; Ratto, D.; Siciliani, S.; Ferrari, B.; Cobelli, F.; Borsci, G.; Priori, E.C.; Chinosi, S.; Ronchi, A.; Franco, R.; Di Francia, R.; Berretta, M.; Locatelli, C.A.; Gregori, A.; Savino, E.; Bottone, M.G.; Rossi, P. Novel Medicinal Mushroom Blend as a Promising Supplement in Integrative Oncology: A Multi-Tiered Study using 4T1 Triple-Negative Mouse Breast Cancer Model. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21, 3479. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21103479

AMA Style

Roda E, De Luca F, Di Iorio C, Ratto D, Siciliani S, Ferrari B, Cobelli F, Borsci G, Priori EC, Chinosi S, Ronchi A, Franco R, Di Francia R, Berretta M, Locatelli CA, Gregori A, Savino E, Bottone MG, Rossi P. Novel Medicinal Mushroom Blend as a Promising Supplement in Integrative Oncology: A Multi-Tiered Study using 4T1 Triple-Negative Mouse Breast Cancer Model. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2020; 21(10):3479. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21103479

Chicago/Turabian Style

Roda, Elisa, Fabrizio De Luca, Carmine Di Iorio, Daniela Ratto, Stella Siciliani, Beatrice Ferrari, Filippo Cobelli, Giuseppina Borsci, Erica Cecilia Priori, Silvia Chinosi, Andrea Ronchi, Renato Franco, Raffaele Di Francia, Massimiliano Berretta, Carlo Alessandro Locatelli, Andrej Gregori, Elena Savino, Maria Grazia Bottone, and Paola Rossi. 2020. "Novel Medicinal Mushroom Blend as a Promising Supplement in Integrative Oncology: A Multi-Tiered Study using 4T1 Triple-Negative Mouse Breast Cancer Model" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 21, no. 10: 3479. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21103479

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Novel Medicinal Mushroom Blend as a Promising Supplement in Integrative Oncology: A Multi-Tiered Study using 4T1 Triple-Negative Mouse Breast Cancer Model

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