Nat Cancer: Can eating pig trotters prevent cancer cells from metastasizing?

Collagen is the code of youth and the key to not getting old

In fact, in addition to collagen's anti-aging effects, a new study recently published in the journal Nature Cancer argues that collagen may also prevent cancer recurrence and metastasis

If this research proves to work, could cancer patients eat more collagen supplements and pig trotters to prevent cancer recurrence and metastasis?

Cancer cells dormant for years because of sleep

According to statistics, up to 90% of the deaths of cancer patients are related to cancer metastasis [2], and various complications caused by metastasis also make cancer patients miserable

Why does cancer recur and metastasize?

In fact, cancer metastasis does not always occur long after local progression of the primary tumor

Unlike animals hibernating, cancer cells dormant for years after they have metastasized elsewhere, which explains why some tumors recur and metastasize years or even decades later

When cancer cells are dormant, they are not idle

Why are metastatic cancer cells dormant?

Some scientists speculate that this may be due to cancer cells migrating to a new place, "unfamiliar with the microenvironment of the new place", thus entering a state of "temporary mitosis" [5,6]

Cancer cells have been waiting to recover

Is there a way to keep cancer cells in a dormant state?

Recently, a new study has discovered a new mechanism of cancer cell dormancy!

Studies have found that [1], the content of type III collagen in the tumor microenvironment around the latent cancer cells is higher; when the content of type III collagen in the microenvironment is reduced, the cancer cells may be released from the dormant state and activated, leading to the recurrence and metastasis of cancer cells.

So the researchers wondered, could cancer cells remain dormant if the amount of collagen type III in the tumor microenvironment increased? In animal experiments, they found that after increasing collagen type III, cancer cells that had metastasized to different sites did enter hibernate state

[7] Researchers believe that type III collagen is secreted by metastatic cancer cells to maintain a dormant state after entering a dormant state; while in a dormant state, type III collagen is in the tumor microenvironment, which will further promote type III collagen expression, so that cancer cells can remain in a dormant state

Cancer cells secrete this collagen and surround themselves a bit like the spring silkworm's "cocooning" behavior, wrapping itself in a cocoon

However, "cocooned" cancer cells are always patiently waiting for the opportunity to recover

As they migrate to new locations, they interact with the surrounding tumor microenvironment, for example by generating new immune responses

The balance of type III collagen that maintains a dormant state at this time may be disrupted, and the cancer cells can be reactivated, thereby releasing the dormant state

In addition, [9] studies have found that stress can accelerate cancer recurrence and metastasis by “helping” cancer cells to release a dormant state by modulating the immune response

Can eating collagen-rich foods prevent recurrence and metastasis?

Since cancer cells can "cocoon" to maintain a dormant state by secreting type III collagen, is it not possible to avoid cancer recurrence and metastasis if increasing type III collagen in the tumor microenvironment induces cancer cells to maintain a dormant state?

Unfortunately, the current method for preventing cancer recurrence and metastasis with type III collagen has not yet entered the (human) clinical research stage

So some friends will ask, whether the collagen ingested in the diet can keep cancer cells in a dormant state, thereby preventing recurrence and metastasis?

the answer is negative!

Although collagen is widely found in the connective tissue of animals, in mammals it constitutes 25-30% of total protein
.

However, after ingested in the collagen diet, it is digested and absorbed by the human body, most of the protein macromolecules become small molecules of collagen peptides or small amino acids, and the isolated amino acid small molecules will be used in various tissues or cells of the body, nor Will reassemble to the original collagen
.

It is conceivable that collagen cannot be supplemented through diet, and those health products on the market that claim to supplement collagen do not actually supplement collagen
.

In addition, collagen remains a large family, with common types being Types I, II, III, V, and XI
.
In the above study, only type III collagen was able to maintain the dormancy of cancer cells
.

Studies have found that [10,11] type I collagen can activate cancer cells and relieve their dormant state
.
The collagen in the diet is not all type III collagen, but also contains collagen that promotes the growth of cancer cells
.

Type I collagen is used for cancer metastases, but you don't have to panic
.
After all, type I collagen ingested from the diet also becomes small molecules and does not resynthesize type I collagen in the body
.

Summarize

Taken together, type III collagen may become a new means of preventing cancer recurrence and metastasis!

We still have to wait, scientists are already working on how to supplement type III collagen into the tumor microenvironment
.

When consuming supplements, pig trotters, etc.
, there is currently no evidence that collagen supplementation can prevent cancer recurrence and metastasis
.

references:

[1] Di Martino, JS, Nobre, AR, Mondal, C.
et al.
A tumor-derived type III collagen-rich ECM niche regulates tumor cell dormancy.
Nat Cancer (2021).

[2] Chaffer CL, Weinberg RA.
A perspective on cancer cell metastasis.
Science.
2011;331(6024):1559-1564.

[3] Comen E, Norton L, Massagué J.
Clinical implications of cancer self-seeding.
Nat Rev Clin Oncol.
2011;8(6):369-377.

[4] Willis RA: The Spread of Tumours in the Human Body.
Nature 133, 743 (1934).

[5]Phan TG, Croucher PI.
The dormant cancer cell life cycle.
Nat Rev Cancer.
2020;20(7):398-411.

[6] Klein CA.
Framework models of tumor dormancy from patient-derived observations.
Curr Opin Genet Dev.
2011;21(1):42-49.

[7] https:// Giancotti FG.
Mechanisms governing metastatic dormancy and reactivation.
Cell.
2013;155(4):750-764.

[9] Perego M, Tyurin VA, Tyurina YY, et al.
Reactivation of dormant tumor cells by modified lipids derived from stress-activated neutrophils.
Sci Transl Med.
2020;12(572):eabb5817.

[10]Barkan D, El Touny LH, Michalowski AM, et al.
Metastatic growth from dormant cells induced by a col-I-enriched fibrotic environment.
Cancer Res.
2010;70(14):5706-5716.

[11]Cox TR, Bird D, Baker AM, et al.
LOX-mediated collagen crosslinking is responsible for fibrosis-enhanced metastasis.
Cancer Res.
2013;73(6):1721-1732.