Effects of heterogeneous collagen-based formulation on growth and metastasis of B16-F1 melanoma in mice: an experimental, cohort, controlled study

BACKGROUND: Defects after melanoma resection require effective and minimally invasive methods for their management to be developed. Current techniques have several limitations and do not always provide a satisfactory aesthetic outcome. Thus, new techniques, including gel injection, should be developed. Рeterogeneous collagen-based formulation is one of the promising options. It has shown its effectiveness in enhancement of wound healing; however, there is no data on its interaction with tumor cells.

AIM: The study aimed to assess the interaction and effect of heterogeneous collagen-based formulation on B16-F1 melanoma in an experiment.

METHODS: The experiment was conducted on laboratory animals (mice) divided into groups to receive injections of heterogeneous collagen-based formulation and 0.9% sodium chloride solution. Laboratory animals were monitored for 20 days, weight and tumor size were measured regularly. The animals were sacrificed, and the primary tumor, lymph nodes, and lungs were sampled for histological examination.

RESULTS: An analysis of the growth rate, metastasis to the lymph nodes and lungs revealed no significant difference between the study and control groups. Tumor histology also did not differ; however, the examination found the injected heterogeneous collagen-based formulation in several samples from unoperated animals.

CONCLUSION: The B16-F1 melanoma model showed no effect of the heterogeneous collagen-based formulation on primary tumor growth and metastasis. This result suggests that this material is potentially safe, which is an important step in the search and development of new oncological reconstructions techniques.