Triterpenoids, with a great activity of anti-tumor, is the core ingredient of most anti-cancer drugs that have been widely applied to tumor patients, including Ganoderma lucidum, Ginsenosides, and Antrodia camphorate drug products.
However, it doesn’t mean that all Triterpenoids products will act as anti-tumor. Triterpenoids are divided into several types, such as ergosteroid type, oxidized aldosterone type and etc. The difference of structures will lead to totally different biological effect. For example, Ganoderma lucidum contains a small number of triterpenoids, which is significant as healthcare product, but insignificant in cancer treating and recovery from cancer.
Actually, ordinary Ginsenosides, such as Rb1 and Rc, are high-activity tetracyclic triterpenoid compounds. Some of them have a higher activity in tumor treating than the triterpenoids of Ganoderma lucidum. The rare Ginsenosides, like Rg3, Rh2, Rg5, are the secondary metabolic derivatives of the ordinary ones. Thus, rare Ginsenosides could act more active in anti-tumor as well as cancer treating.