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This article reviews lectins of animal and plant origin that induce apoptosis and autophagy of cancer cells and hence possess the potential of being developed into anticancer drugs. Apoptosis-inducing lectins encompass galectins, C-type lectins, annexins, Haliotis discus discus lectin, Polygonatum odoratum lectin, mistletoe lectin, and concanavalin A, fucose-binding Dicentrarchus labrax lectin, and Strongylocentrotus purpuratus lectin, Polygonatum odoratum lectin, and mistletoe lectin, Polygonatum odoratum lectin, autophagy inducing lectins include annexins and Polygonatum odoratum lectin.

This article reviews mushrooms with anti-breast cancer activity. The mushrooms covered which are better known include the following: button mushroom Agaricus bisporus, Brazilian mushroom Agaricus blazei, Amauroderma rugosum, stout camphor fungus Antrodia camphorata, Jew's ear (black) fungus or black wood ear fungus Auricularia auricula-judae, reishi mushroom or Lingzhi Ganoderma lucidum, Ganoderma sinense, maitake mushroom or sheep's head mushroom Grifola frondosa, lion's mane mushroom or monkey head mushroom Hericium erinaceum, brown beech mushroom Hypsizigus marmoreus, sulfur polypore mushroom Laetiporus sulphureus, Lentinula edodes (shiitake mushroom), Phellinus linteus (Japanese "meshimakobu," Chinese "song gen," Korean "sanghwang," American "black hoof mushroom"), abalone mushroom Pleurotus abalonus, king oyster mushroom Pleurotus eryngii, oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus, tuckahoe or Fu Ling Poria cocos, and split gill mushroom Schizophyllum commune. Antineoplastic effectiveness in human clinical trials and mechanism of anticancer action have been reported for Antrodia camphorata, Cordyceps sinensis, Coriolus versicolor, Ganoderma lucidum, Grifola frondosa, and Lentinula edodes. Agaricus placomycesThe 68-kDa laccase from Agaricus placomyces belongs to a family of copper-containing oxidases involved in lignin degradation and possessing anticancer activity (Mizerska-Dudka et al. 2015). It potently expressed antiproliferative activity toward MCF-7 human breast cancer cells with an IC50 of 1.8 μM (Sun et al. 2012). Agaricus sylvaticusIn a randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled clinical trial, 46 patients with stage II and III breast cancer who received chemotherapy demonstrated an improved appetite and fewer gastrointestinal complaints, nausea, and vomiting following dietary supplementation with A. sylvaticus (2.1 g/day) (Valadares et al. 2013). Amauroderma rude Amauroderma rude had higher tumoricidal activity than Ganoderma lucidum. A. rude lowered cell survival and triggered apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Tumor growth in athymic nude mice bearing MDA-MB-231-xenografts was retarded and tumor cell death was promoted by treatment with A. rude. Expression of the c-Myc oncogene was downregulated . A. rude exhibited a higher content of ergosterol (ergosta-5,7,22-trien-3β-ol) in comparison with 12 other mushrooms examined. Under the influence of ergosterol, the viability of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells was reduced, whereas expression of the tumor suppressor Foxo3 and downstream signaling molecules including BimL, BimS, Fas, and FasL was enhanced resulting in apoptosis of the breast cancer cells (Li et al. 2015).Amauroderma rugosum (also known as black Lingzhi, a member of five-color Lingzhi) Organic molecules from A. rugosum inhibited oxidant activity, tumor necrosis factor-α and nitric oxide formation, and MCF7 cell proliferation (Zhang et al. 2017a). A single treatment with pulverized A. rugosum (2000 mg/kg) by mouth did not impair growth, blood parameters, histological structures of t...