The study of anti-tumor effect of Ganoderma lucidum began in 1980s, including in vivo and in vitro experiments. The former is to take Ganoderma lucidum preparation to experimental animals before and after inoculation of transplanted tumor to observe its inhibitory effect on tumor growth, or to observe the survival time of any tumor animal; The latter is to observe whether Ganoderma lucidum preparation can directly kill cancer cells on tumor cells cultured in vitro, which is called cytotoxicity.

A large number of experimental results have proved that Ganoderma lucidum and its polysaccharides and other effective components have no cytotoxic effect, that is, they cannot directly kill tumor cells. On the contrary, it can promote the proliferation of tumor cells under certain conditions. For experimental animals inoculated with transplanted tumors, intragastric administration or injection of Ganoderma lucidum or its effective components can inhibit tumor growth, showing a certain anti-tumor effect, but the tumor inhibition rate is not high, generally 50% ~ 60%. It can be seen that the anti-tumor effect of Ganoderma lucidum is far less than that of anticancer drugs commonly used in clinic, so it is considered that Ganoderma lucidum is only suitable as an auxiliary drug. Therefore, if cancer patients rely solely on Ganoderma lucidum preparations for treatment, they will only delay their illness.