Reishi Inhibits Breast Cancer Growth in SCID Mice

Female severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice (21 d of age) were purchased from Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (Wilmington, MA) and housed under specific pathogen-free conditions. The mice received autoclaved AIN 76-A phytoestrogen-free diet (Tek Global, Harlan Teklad, Madison, WI) and water ad libitum. Cell inoculations were performed as previously described by us [20] (link). SUM-149 cells (∼1×10⁶) in Matrigel (BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA) were injected into the mammary fat pad under isofluorane inhalation as described in [20] (link), [21] (link). After tumor establishment (1 week post-inoculation), the animals were randomly divided into control (n = 11) and experimental (n = 11) groups. Mice were gavaged every day with vehicle or 28 mg/kg BW of Reishi for a period of 13 week. Mice were weighed weekly and tumor volume was measured once a week along two major axes using calipers measurements. Tumor volume (mm³) was calculated as follows: π/6 (L)(W)(H). The relative tumor volumes were calculated as the ratio of the average tumor volume on week n divided by the average tumor volume on week one. Tumor weights were obtained at the end of the study.