Modified citrus pectin anti-metastatic properties: one bullet, multiple targets.

Modified citrus pectin anti-metastatic properties: one bullet, multiple targets.

Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital, Columbia, MO 65201, USA; Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65212, USA.

In this minireview, we examine the ability of modified citrus pectin (MCP), a complex water soluble indigestible polysaccharide obtained from the peel and pulp of citrus fruits and modified by means of high pH and temperature treatment, to affect numerous rate-limiting steps in cancer metastasis. The anti-adhesive properties of MCP as well as its potential for increasing apoptotic responses of tumor cells to chemotherapy by inhibiting galectin-3 anti-apoptotic function are discussed in the light of a potential use of this carbohydrate-based substance in the treatment of multiple human malignancies.