Lung cancer is the leading cause of death in western world, and the incidence continues to increase. Lung cancer is frequently diagnosed when it is extensively metastasized and has a dismal prognosis. Chemotherapy being the mainstay of treatment has not been able to increase quality of life or survival of patients. A novel nutrient mixture containing green tea extract, ascorbic acid, lysine, and proline exhibited anti-cancer effects in various cancers. In our earlier studies, the nutrient mixture considerably reduced the tumor weight and tumor burden in athymic mice using A-549 lung cancer cells.

Despite sporadic progress, cancer has thus far eluded preventive and therapeutic approaches that can lead to an effective control of this global epidemic. The single most important reason for this failure is the fact that no effective intervention became available to impede the pathological pathways common to all types of cancer. In our study, we targeted metalloproteinases (MMPS), endopeptidases that are involved in the breakdown of extracellular matrix (ECM). Among them, MMP-2 and MMP-9 are critically involved in all stages of cancer development including tumor growth, invasion and metastasis.

Our goal was to develop an anti-cancer vaccine by inhibiting these specific enzymes. We selected three oligopeptides from human MMP-9 and one from human MMP-2. We demonstrated the efficacy of these oligopeptides in generating immune response in mice. The  in vitro tests showed that anti-MMPs sera were effective in curbing invasion of HeLA cells through the extracellular matrix system (Matrigel).