Antrodia cinnamomea is a potentially effective complementary medicine for adjuvant therapy against breast cancer with bone metastasis

Abstract

Rationale: Palbociclib (PAL) is a first-in-class selective inhibitor of the cyclin-dependent kinases 4 (CDK4) and CDK6 and is indicated for the treatment of hormone receptor (HR)-positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative metastatic breast cancer (MBC) in combination with fulvestrant (FUL) in postmenopausal women. Antrodia cinnamomea (AC), a well-known Chinese folk medicine in Taiwan, possesses numerous biological capabilities, most notably an anti-tumor effect. However, the clinical use of AC as complementary medicine combined with adjuvant therapy is unexplored. In this case report, we evaluated AC combined with PAL plus FUL to reduce the tumor burden in an MBC patient. Patient concerns: A Slovenian woman diagnosed with relapsed bone metastases of breast cancer (BC) was unable to undergo surgery and refused radiation therapy due to fear of side effects; she also feared the side effects of adjuvants. However, she was eager to live with a high quality of life. Diagnosis: Stage IV, HR-positive/HER2-negative BC with relapse of bone metastases. Interventions: After diagnosis of relapse of bone metastases, she received adjuvant with PAL plus FUL. Additionally, she chose to take AC orally (10 g/d). Outcomes: The pain was mostly relieved, and the side effects of adjuvant therapy reduced. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed reduction of tumor size at the fifth month of adjuvant therapy plus AC. After 14 months of adjuvant therapy plus AC, the tumors at the thoracic vertebrae T1 and T3 were found to have shrunk from 35.2 and 12.0 mm to 28.1 and 9.9 mm, respectively. Remarkably, no further metastases were observed. Lessons: According to the circulating tumor cells (CTCs) test data, AC had better anti-tumor efficacy on active tumor cells than PAL plus FUL. Thus, AC could be an effective complementary medicine for adjuvant therapy in patients with HR-positive/HER2-negative MBC. Interestingly, continued elevation of carcinoma antigen 15-3 and lactate dehydrogenase levels but decreasing levels of alkaline phosphatase were observed, which may be indicative of the potent efficacy of treatment resulting in massive tumor cell death. The CTCs test may be a sensitive approach to monitor the progression of BC and subsequently evaluate the efficiency of therapy.

Potential Antitumor Effect of α-Mangostin against Rat Mammary Gland Tumors Induced by LA7 Cells

“…Therefore, AM may represent an effective chemotherapeutic drug for cancer treatment. These results are consistent with those of a previous case report study [ 33 ].…”

Patient-Derived Tumor Chemosensitization of GKB202, an Antrodia Cinnamomea Mycelium-Derived Bioactive Compound

“…This may explain the safety of high dose supplements due to the high hepatic ratio. A recent case report has shown that a combination of existing therapeutic drugs with AC (10 g/day) in a breast cancer patient with bone metastasis showed life quality improvement by decreasing CTC numbers [ 41 ], with no further adverse effect found in both liver and renal after a long period of consumption. Since GKB202 is a purified compound from ACM, its metabolites should be analyzed and compared with ACM metabolites to monitor potential biomarkers in future work.…”

A real‐world study of immune checkpoint inhibitors in advanced triple‐negative breast cancer

“…LDH is a catalytic enzyme in the pathways of glycolysis and gluconeogenesis, and exists in most tissues of the body [ 24 , 25 , 26 ]. Cancer cells produce large amount of lactic acid to form an acidic tumor microenvironment, and local high concentration of lactic acid inhibits the function of cytotoxic T lymphocytes and reduces the release of IL‐2, interferon, perforin, and granzyme [ 27 ].…”