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Anticarcinogenic effect of beta-glucans

Use of medicinal herbs and herbal dietary supplements with alleged-anticarcinogenic effects is very common among cancer patients. Such effects are generally achieved through two important mechanisms: cytotoxic and immunomodulatory and one of the active compounds with proven immune effects is a large group of structurally heterogeneous polysaccharides called β-glucans. They are very widespread in the nature and they come as important structural components of bacterial and fungal cell-walls, in seaweed and certain types of cereals, such as oat and barley. In spite of their traditional use in oriental medicine and long term scientific investigations, current knowledge on their mechanism of action and in vivo efficiency is still inadequate. Current claims on their biological effectiveness are based on the results of experimental studies and results of available clinical trial data is insufficient and contradictory. Major problem in β-glucan research is the fact that their structure (size and degree of branching) varies significantly, depending on their source, cultivation technique and isolation method, and small changes in certain structural segments define their biological effectiveness. Considering strong evidence from experimental studies that β-glucans act as strong biological response modifiers and considering their safety and low toxicity, further investigation of their therapeutic efficacy is highly desirable. Future efforts should be directed towards performing well-designed clinical trials that will verify the actual therapeutic potential of structurally defined β-glucans.

beta-glucans; anticarcinogenic effects

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