The collagen found in the body may have an "extraordinary" ability to protect against cancer, British researchers revealed today.
Collagen sends out chemical signals that stop the growth of the disease, according to the study at the Institute of Cancer Research, London.
The research has centred on squamous cell lung cancer and the scientists say the disease is aggravated by a mutant form of the chemical signal, known as DDR2.
Researchers say it opens the possibility of developed a targeted treatment for the disease. They have reported their findings in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology.
Researcher Dr Paul Huang said: "We knew collagen was capable of slowing the growth of some cancer types, presumably by maintaining the structure of tissues, but our new study for the first time identifies how this effect occurs in lung cancer.
"We sifted through data on 428 different proteins stimulated by collagen, and isolated just one we think can play a key role in protecting tissues from cancer. Identifying this molecular trigger opens up the prospect of targeted treatments for squamous cell lung cancer."
Institute chief executive Professor Alan Ashworth said: "Survival rates for lung cancer remain extremely poor, and one of the ways to improve this is to discover new ways of targeting the disease with drugs. This new study is valuable for two reasons – it identifies an exciting new potential route for treating lung cancers, and it also shows us why some other approaches are unlikely to work.
"Scientifically, these results are very interesting as they demonstrate how one of the most common proteins in the human body plays a role not only in building the structure of tissues but also in cancer."
Heist, R.S., et al. Squamous cell cancer accounts for around 25 per cent of all lung cancer cases. J Thorac Oncol, 2012. 7(5): p. 924-33).
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