No results on primary tumor. While regular citrus pectin does not affect cancer cells, MCP is purported to be useful in the prevention and treatment of metastatic cancer. It is not , however, beneficial for the treatment of primary, existing tumors. Sometimes, tumors can go undetected for many years. During this latency period, the tumor has the opportunity to metastasize throughout the body via the blood system, lymphatic system, or to adjacent, neighboring body tissue.
Lectins are ubiquitous to prostate cancer cells as well as other cancer cells.
More specifically, lectins include any of several plant glycoproteins that bind to specific carbohydrate groups on the plasma membrane of cells. In the early stages of metastasis, MCP inhibits the formation of tumor cell emboli and the cancer cell's interaction with the endothelium of the target organ. MCP acts as an anti-adhesive agent. The chemical structure of the MCP encourages cancer cell lectins to bind to the pH modified pectin rather than human tissue. Once this has occurred, the cancer cells circulate through the blood stream attached to the pectin until excretion occurs or until the cells perish.