腫瘤學家希望從中草藥發現抗癌藥物具有相當高的興趣。台灣原住民食藥用菇-樟芝(Antrodia camphora仰，又被稱為牛樟芝) ，早在百年前已被廣泛使用作為民俗用藥或機能食品。目前為止，已有三百多篇科學性論文發表有關牛樟芝或其分離化合物具有治療及多種生物活性，包括抗發炎、抗病毒、抗氧化或抗癌等作用。有關樟芝的抗癌研究，我們的團隊早在2002年首先證實，樟芝會抑制人類血癌細胞(HL-60)增蘊及誘導細胞凋亡。更多更廣泛的研究發現，樟芝及其衍生的化合物對各種人類腫瘤細胞亦具有抗癌的功效。我們的體外及體內抗癌實驗發現，樟芝對各種陽性/陰性雌激素受體的人類乳癌細胞具有強力的抗癌或抗轉移的功效。結果顯示，樟芝對人類乳癌細胞是透過調節多種分子信號(專遞，因而誘導癌細胞凋亡、癌細胞週期停滯、抑制癌細胞生長、抗癌細胞轉移及抗發炎等功效。總結，樟芝可能具有抗癌效果，可作為癌症的化學預防及治療。

Currently there is considerable interest among oncologists to find anti-cancer drugs from Chinese herbal medicine. The indigenous Taiwanese medicinal mushroom, Antrodia camphorata (A. camphorata) locally known as niu chang chih, has been widely used as a Chinese folk medicine or functional food for thousands of years. Up to the present, there have been more than 300 scientific reports published regarding the therapeutic potential of A. camphorata or its pure compounds. The mushroom has a variety of biological effects, including anti-inflammation, anti-viral, antioxidant, and anti-cancer effects. The anticancer potential of A. camphorata was explored by our team in a previous study in early 2002, when it was shown to inhibit proliferation and induced apoptosis in human premyelocytic leukemia. Thereafter, extensive studies have verified the anti-cancer properties of A. camphorata and its derived pure compounds in various murine models of human cancer cell lines. Our recent findings show that A. camphorata has a potent antitumor and anti-metastatic ability against estrogen receptor positive/negative human breast cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. According to our findings, A. camphorata displays chemopreventive action against human breast cancer cells via modulating multiple molecular signaling pathways at various cellular levels, the ultimate outcomes of which are induction of apoptosis, cell-cycle arrest, growth inhibition, anti-metastasis, and antiinflammation. Therefore, we believe Antrodia camphorata is a suitable candidate for cancer chemoprevention or chemotherapy.