This thesis documents that crude extracts from B.C. wild mushrooms possess potent growth-inhibitory properties. In addition, this work shows, for the first time, that ethanol extracts from Piptoporus betulinus and Ganoderma applanatum have a strong growth-inhibitory activity and that methanol extracts of Echinodontium tinctorium, a previously untested fungus, exhibits growth-inhibitory activity as well. In addition to human cervical cancer HeLa cells, E. tinctorium extracts also exhibited a growth-inhibitory effect on human breast, ovarian, liver, lung, and colon cancer cell lines. Upon purification using Sephadex LH-20 gel filtration chromatography, two distinct growth-inhibitory compounds were documented: a higher molecular weight growth-inhibitory compound(s), likely to contain carbohydrate and a lower molecular weight growth-inhibitory compound(s), likely to be a small molecule. This thesis provides the foundation work to allow further purification and characterization of these potentially novel growth-inhibitory compound(s) from E. tinctorium, an essential step towards future therapeutic use.
