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Complementary treatment of breast cancer patients with OE improves the quality of life by reducing signs and symptoms of the disease and the side effects of adjuvant antineoplastic therapies. This epidemiological retrolective cohort analysis provides evidence that the patients may also gain benefit by a prolongation of the time to event for cancer recurrence, metastasis and survival. OE was generally well tolerated.

According to our hypothesis, organ-specific lectins (e.g., the D-galactose-specific hepatic binding protein) play an important role in the organ location of metastatic malignant cells. The rapid clearance and uptake by the liver of tritiated alpha 1-acid-(asialo)glycoprotein from the circulation of Balb/c mice was markedly delayed after preinjection of D-galactose or arabinogalactan. The preinjection (1 h) and regular application (for 3 days after tumor cell inoculation in Balb/c mice) of the receptor blocking agents D-galactose and arabinogalactan prevented the settling of sarcoma L-1 tumor in the liver completely, but did not influence the settling in the lung. Other galactans, dextrans, and phosphate-buffered saline showed no effect. Therefore, when lectins were blocked with competitive-specific glycoconjugates, colonization was prevented.

Adhesion of bacteria and of metastasizing tumour cells have much in common, especially the participation of lectins in this process. In the future it might be possible to inhibit the metastatic process and bacterial adhesion by blocking with lectins specific for appropriate (oligo) saccharides or glycoconjugates. Initial clinical trials are very promising.