Comment

Lung cancer, the most common form of cancer diagnosed in the United States, has one of the lowest survival rates of any cancer due to a high metastatic rate and poor results with standard treatment regimens. There is compelling evidence that invasion and metastasis depend on degradation of the extracellular matrix (ECM), particularly by MMP –2 and –9 expression. In this study of the effect of a unique combination of lysine, proline, arginine, ascorbic acid, and epigallocatechin gallate on human lung cancer cell A-549 MMP expression and matrix invasion in vitro, we found complete inhibition of MMP-2 and –9 expression and Matrigel invasion at 500 _g/ml NM. These results suggest that the nutrient combination tested has great potential as a safe but effective therapeutic regimen for this highly aggressive cancer.