Active hexose correlated compound enhances tumor surveillance through regulating both innate and adaptive immune responses

Active hexose correlated compound (AHCC) is a mixture of polysaccharides, amino acids, lipids and minerals derived from cocultured mycelia of several species of Basidiomycete mushrooms. AHCC has been implicated to modulate immune functions and plays a protective role against infection. However, the potential role of AHCC in tumor immune surveillance is unknown. In this study, C57BL/6 mice were orally administered AHCC or water, followed by tumor cell inoculation. We showed that compared to pure water-treated mice, AHCC treatment significantly delayed tumor development after inoculation of either melanoma cell line B16F0 or lymphoma cell line EL4. Treatment with AHCC enhanced both Ag-specific activation and proliferation of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells, increased the number of tumor Ag-specific CD8⁺ T cells, and more importantly, increased the frequency of tumor Ag-specific IFN-γ producing CD8⁺ T cells. Interestingly, AHCC treatment also showed increased cell number of NK and γδ T cells, indicating the role of AHCC in activating these innate-like lymphocytes. In summary, our results demonstrate that AHCC can enhance tumor immune surveillance through regulating both innate and adaptive immune responses.