Medicinal mushroom-derived compounds for managing neuro-gastrointestinal and physical symptoms in cancer patients: Mechanisms, clinical evidence, and future directions

• Cancer patients supplemented with medicinal mushrooms showed improved QOL. • Medicinal mushrooms extracts relieve gastrointestinal cancer symptoms in patients. • Medicinal mushroom-derived compounds enhanced cancer patients' physical well-being. • Medicinal mushrooms show potential in cancer care, despite the limited research. Cancer patients experience a significant symptom burden that affects their quality of life. These include gastrointestinal, neurological, and physical side effects, which worsen fatigue and quality of life during conventional treatments like radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy. Consequently, there is increasing interest in integrative approaches to complement standard treatments. Among these, medicinal mushrooms are gaining popularity because of their immunomodulatory properties and potential to alleviate common cancer- and treatment-related symptoms. We thoroughly review existing reports on the benefits of medicinal mushrooms in cancer care and discuss how future clinical trials can apply more rigorous methods to quantitatively assess their advantages.