Your thyroid is a small gland in the front part of your neck that makes hormones that regulate your metabolic rate and help manage your blood calcium level. When cells in your thyroid grow out of control and become cancerous, they can form malignant nodules that may spread to nearby tissues or to distant organs and tissues, causing serious and potentially life-threatening illness. Modified citrus pectin, or MCP, is a natural remedy that may help prevent or slow the growth of thyroid cancer. Consult your doctor about MCP to decide if it is appropriate for your situation.
Symptoms and Risk Factors
Early stages of thyroid cancer may produce no symptoms. However, a lump or a persistent pain may eventually form in the front of your neck or you might become hoarse, experience a change in your voice or have difficulty swallowing or breathing. You are at increased risk for thyroid cancer if you have been exposed to significant radiation from x-rays or if your diet is deficient in iodine. A personal or family history of goiters, which are nonmalignant thyroid growths, or a family history of thyroid cancer also raises your risk for the disease. In addition, women are almost three times more likely to develop thyroid cancer than men, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Modified Citrus Pectin
Pectin is a soluble fiber found in many fruits and vegetables. Modified citrus pectin is a form of pectin treated to convert its components into smaller molecules, making it more soluble and allowing your body to absorb it more effectively. MCP has a number of health benefits, including supporting your digestive health and lowering blood cholesterol. In addition, MCP is a natural anticancer agent that may lower your risk for thyroid cancer or improve your outcome if you already have the disease.
Actions and Evidence
MCP binds to a molecule called galectin-3 that cancerous cells make. Galectin-3 helps cancer cells adhere to and invade surrounding tissues. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center summarizes laboratory research findings indicating that when MCP binds to galectin-3, it slows tumor growth, inhibits blood vessels from growing into tumors and prevents the spread of cancer cells into healthy tissues. Several clinical studies with MCP or MCP-derived compounds as potential cancer treatments have also been carried out. In one of these, published in "Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases" in 2003, subjects with prostate cancer who consumed MCP for one year had slower production of prostate-specific antigen, a cancer marker, than at the start of the study. These are promising findings, although clinical trials of MCP as a possible treatment for thyroid cancer are still needed.
Recommendations
MCP is available in capsules from health food stores and is generally considered a safe supplement, although it may cause mild abdominal cramping or diarrhea in some people. It may also interact with some prescription medications, including cholesterol-lowering drugs, and it may reduce absorption of beta-carotene from foods and supplements. Talk to your doctor before adding MCP to your regimen.
References
- National Cancer Institute: What You Need to Know About Thyroid Cancer
- Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center: Pectin
- Drugs.com: Pectin
- "Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases"; Modified Citrus Pectin (MCP) Increases the Prostate-Specific Antigen Doubling Time in Men with Prostate Cancer: A Phase II Pilot Study; B. Guess, et al.; 2003
