Reishi Mushroom

Our assessments of evidence for each medical benefit fall into one of these categories:

• Strong evidence: consistent, significant effects in several large (or at least one very large) well designed clinical studies or at least two meta-analysesa statistical analysis that combines the results of two or more research studies; the results of smaller research studies addressing the same or similar questions can be analyzed as though they are one bigger, more powerful study of clinical studies of moderate or better quality (or one large meta-analysis) finding similar results
• Good evidence: significant effects in one large or several mid-sized and well-designed clinical studies ( randomized controlled trialsa study design in which people are randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group to compare the outcomes from different treatments; an RCT is considered a strong design for determining a therapy’s effects with an appropriate placebo or other strong comparison control or observational studies that control for confounds)
• Modest evidence: significant effects in at least three small but well-designed randomized controlled trials (RCTs), or one or more well-designed, mid-sized clinical studies of reasonably good quality (RCTs or observationala type of study in which individuals are observed or certain outcomes are measured, but no attempt is made to affect the outcome (for example, no treatment is given); an example is a study that records people’s diets, but doesn’t try to alter their diets, and looks for patterns of disease or other outcomes related to different foods studies), or several small studies aggregated into a meta-analysis
• Preliminary evidence: significant effects in small or poorly designed clinical studies OR conflicting results in adequate studies but a preponderance of evidence of an effect
• Weak evidence: one or more case studies, supported by animal evidence OR small treatment effects of limited clinical significance OR studies with no controls OR weak trends of effects
• Insufficient evidence: preclinical evidence only OR clinical studies with such poor or unclear methodology that no conclusion can be drawn OR conflicting findings across clinical studies with no preponderance of evidence in one direction; conflicting evidence occurs when studies find conflicting effects (positive effect vs no effect or negative effect) with the same treatment and the same general study population (same cancer type, for example)

• Less fever, cough, weakness, insomnia, and sweating among people with advanced lung cancer treated with reishi mushrooms compared to placebo in a small RCTrandomized controlled trial, a study design in which people are randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group to compare the outcomes from different treatments; an RCT is considered a strong design for determining a therapy’s effects without clear statement of significance¹⁴Gao Y, Dai X, Chen G, Ye J, Zhou S. A randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter study of Ganoderma lucidum (W.Curt.:Fr.) lloyd (Aphyllophoromycetideae) polysaccharides (Ganopoly) in patients with advanced lung cancer. International Journal of Medicinal. Mushrooms. 2003;5:14.

• Less anxiety among people endocrine therapy with breast cancer treated with reishi mushroom compared to controls in a small RCTrandomized controlled trial, a study design in which people are randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group to compare the outcomes from different treatments; an RCT is considered a strong design for determining a therapy’s effects¹⁵Zhao H, Zhang Q et al. Spore powder of Ganoderma lucidum improves cancer-related fatigue in breast cancer patients undergoing endocrine therapy: a pilot clinical trial. Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2012;2012:809614.

• Less bone marrow suppression and decrease in white blood cells, including lymphocytes and neutrophils, and an increase of other blood cells (red blood cells, hemoglobin, and platelets) during chemotherapy among people with several types of cancer treated with reishi mushrooms compared to chemotherapy alone in a review of RCTsrandomized controlled trial, a study design in which people are randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group to compare the outcomes from different treatments; an RCT is considered a strong design for determining a therapy’s effects of modest quality¹⁶Lam CS, Cheng LP, Zhou LM, Cheung YT, Zuo Z. Herb-drug interactions between the medicinal mushrooms Lingzhi and Yunzhi and cytotoxic anticancer drugs: a systematic review. Chinese Medicine. 2020 Jul 25;15:75.

• Greater appetite during endocrine therapy among people with breast cancer treated with reishi mushrooms compared to controls in a small RCTrandomized controlled trial, a study design in which people are randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group to compare the outcomes from different treatments; an RCT is considered a strong design for determining a therapy’s effects¹⁷Zhao H, Zhang Q et al. Spore powder of Ganoderma lucidum improves cancer-related fatigue in breast cancer patients undergoing endocrine therapy: a pilot clinical trial. Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2012;2012:809614.

• Better cognitive function during endocrine therapy among people with breast cancer treated with reishi mushrooms compared to controls in a small RCTrandomized controlled trial, a study design in which people are randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group to compare the outcomes from different treatments; an RCT is considered a strong design for determining a therapy’s effects¹⁸Zhao H, Zhang Q et al. Spore powder of Ganoderma lucidum improves cancer-related fatigue in breast cancer patients undergoing endocrine therapy: a pilot clinical trial. Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2012;2012:809614.

• Less depression during endocrine therapy among people with breast cancer treated with reishi mushrooms compared to controls in a small RCTrandomized controlled trial, a study design in which people are randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group to compare the outcomes from different treatments; an RCT is considered a strong design for determining a therapy’s effects¹⁹Zhao H, Zhang Q et al. Spore powder of Ganoderma lucidum improves cancer-related fatigue in breast cancer patients undergoing endocrine therapy: a pilot clinical trial. Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2012;2012:809614.

• Less severe fatigue during endocrine therapy among people with breast cancer treated with reishi mushrooms compared to controls in a small RCTrandomized controlled trial, a study design in which people are randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group to compare the outcomes from different treatments; an RCT is considered a strong design for determining a therapy’s effects²⁰Zhao H, Zhang Q et al. Spore powder of Ganoderma lucidum improves cancer-related fatigue in breast cancer patients undergoing endocrine therapy: a pilot clinical trial. Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2012;2012:809614.

• Better quality of life during chemotherapy among people with breast, colorectal, gastrointestinal, or lung cancers treated with reishi compared to controls in a meta-analysisa statistical analysis that combines the results of two or more research studies; the results of smaller research studies addressing the same or similar questions can be analyzed as though they are one bigger, more powerful study of 5 RCTsrandomized controlled trial, a study design in which people are randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group to compare the outcomes from different treatments; an RCT is considered a strong design for determining a therapy’s effects²¹Jin X, Ruiz Beguerie J, Sze DM, Chan GC. Ganoderma lucidum (reishi mushroom) for cancer treatment. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2016 Apr 5;4:CD007731. and reviews of 9 and 21 clinical and preclinical studies²²Jeitler M, Michalsen A et al. Significance of medicinal mushrooms in integrative oncology: a narrative review. Frontiers in Pharmacology. 2020 Nov 11;11:580656; Lam CS, Cheng LK et al. Herb-drug interactions between the medicinal mushrooms Lingzhi and Yunzhi and cytotoxic anticancer drugs: a systematic review. Chinese Medicine. 2020 Jul 25;15:75.
• A weak trendan apparent change due to a therapy, close to but not achieving full statistical significance (this is the CancerChoices definition; other researchers and studies may define this differently toward better quality of life and emotional well-being during chemotherapy among people with non–small cell lung cancer treated with Reishi & Privet Formula compared to placebo in a small RCT²³Liu J, Mao JJ, Li SQ, Lin H. Preliminary efficacy and safety of Reishi & Privet Formula on quality of life among non–small cell lung cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy: a randomized placebo-controlled trial. Integrative Cancer Therapies. Jan-Dec 2020;19:1534735420944491.
• Better emotional function during endocrine therapy among people with breast cancer treated with reishi mushrooms compared to controls in a small RCT²⁴Zhao H, Zhang Q et al. Spore powder of Ganoderma lucidum improves cancer-related fatigue in breast cancer patients undergoing endocrine therapy: a pilot clinical trial. Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2012;2012:809614.

• Less sleep disturbance during endocrine therapy among people with breast cancer treated with reishi mushroom compared to controls in a small RCTrandomized controlled trial, a study design in which people are randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group to compare the outcomes from different treatments; an RCT is considered a strong design for determining a therapy’s effects²⁵Zhao H, Zhang Q et al. Spore powder of Ganoderma lucidum improves cancer-related fatigue in breast cancer patients undergoing endocrine therapy: a pilot clinical trial. Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2012;2012:809614.

• Reversal of mild fatty liver condition among healthy volunteers treated with reishi compared to controls in a small RCTrandomized controlled trial, a study design in which people are randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group to compare the outcomes from different treatments; an RCT is considered a strong design for determining a therapy’s effects²⁶Chiu H, Fu H et al. Triterpenoids and polysaccharide peptides-enriched Ganoderma lucidum: a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled crossover study of its antioxidation and hepatoprotective efficacy in healthy volunteers. Pharmaceutical Biology. 2017 Dec;55(1):1041-1046.

• Fewer and smaller colorectal adenomas among people with prior adenomas treated with reishi mushrooms compared to controls in a small controlled trial²⁷Oka S, Tanaka S et al. A water-soluble extract from culture medium of Ganoderma lucidum mycelia suppresses the development of colorectal adenomas. Hiroshima Journal of Medical Sciences. 2010 Mar;59(1):1-6.