MCP enhances anti-cancer effects of two poly-botanical formulas

May 23 2012

In a groundbreaking study, Modified Citrus Pectin (MCP), a highly researched natural compound enhanced the anti-cancer effects of two poly-botanical formulas. When co-administered with formulas that attack breast and prostate cancer, MCP significantly increased their anti-cancer action, further reducing metastasis in highly invasive breast and prostate cancer cells. The study was led by researchers at the Cancer Research Laboratory at Indiana University Health and Indiana University School of Medicine, and published in the peer review journal Integrative Cancer Therapies.

"We asked a simple question of whether one plus one can equal more than two," said lead investigator Dr. Daniel Sliva, associate professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine. "We know that certain molecules in cancer cells are responsible for their aggressive behavior. The synergistic effects seen in this study show that we can further suppress these molecules and significantly reduce the cancer cells' aggressiveness."

In the study, low concentrations of the anti-breast cancer formula decreased breast cancer cell adhesion to human fibronectin by 21 percent. However, when co-administered with Modified Citrus Pectin, researchers observed a 40 percent decrease.

In addition, the anti-prostate cancer formula, administered alone, decreased prostate cancer cell adhesion by 9 percent. When MCP was added, adhesion was suppressed by up to 40 percent.

The study also showed that cancer cell migration was also reduced by combining MCP with the and breast formulas.

"This new study is particularly important because it demonstrates that when MCP is combined with either the prostate or breast formula, lower dosages provided more powerful synergistic anti-cancer effects than were observed when these supplements were studied on their own," said co-author and formulator, Dr. Isaac Eliaz.

It is especially important because of the recent poster presentation of the breast formula at AACR (American Association for Cancer Research), demonstrating its dramatic ability to decrease breast to lung metastasis in an orthotopic triple negative breast cancer animal model.

In addition to examining the aggressive behavior of breast and prostate cancer cells, researchers also assessed levels of urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA), a protein secreted by cancer cells. High levels of uPA promote cell adhesion, migration and invasion, contributing to cancer metastasis. As a result, uPA is used as a bio-marker for invasive cancer cells. Previous studies had shown that the poly-botanicals alone suppressed uPA expression. The current study shows that uPA secretion and cancer cell migration were further restricted when cancer cells were treated with the breast or prostate formulas combined with MCP.