Collagen supplements and Breast Cancer

A bit over 3 years ago after a year on both Prolia and an AI (I've taken all 3) I suffered debilitating knee pain which verged on incapacitating. I discovered collagen which had my knees back to normal in weeks. Last April I reduced my intake of collagen (from 2 capsules to 1) and began experiencing jaw pain. Increasing the dosage back rectified that. Now this new information has me thinking. I'm 4 1/2 years out from BC treatment, I'll transition off Prolia April 1st and I'll be off Letrozole at the same time. Until then I consider collagen a must have supplement. After that I guess I either find a way to wean off collagen if possible or just be hypervigilant about BC. Which I would be anyway. I'm 70 years old, so at this point quality of life is more important than quantity. And as evidence against collagen isn't really yet verifiable, I'll sleep fine. Thanks for the updates.

Thanks for the great article!

I found this article re: collagen and breast cancer - I am taking collagen for joint pain to for bone building since I am on an AI. This has got me scared!!
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11073151/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3moF7UOhitGyRCdqK5oc9kls-ahjZEjsnaCbqM47BvEOb_8dYovgzMbFw_aem_3IPR3venHLwz_zkhC_0a5w#s0008

May I ask a stupid question?

Can you please tell me what, specifically in the article, scares you? Can you tell me in "layman's" terms? I ask this respectfully. Thank you!

I have been taking collagen for years and still do. Just had MX last year after lumpectomy in 2023. The article links collagen to breast cancer and metastasis - that is what is scary - in layman's terms.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/do-collagen-supplements-work
Fron the article:

"Collagen is the main protein in the human body..."

"Your body produces collagen naturally... "

"... all forms of < ingested> collagen are broken down into amino acids during digestion and then absorbed and used to build collagen or other proteins your body needs."

"... you don’t need to take collagen supplements to produce collagen — your body does this naturally using amino acids from whichever proteins you eat."

"... some studies suggest that taking collagen supplements may enhance its production and offer unique benefits."

(( As an aside... In researching this topic it seems to me that so much of the information on the internet has been "dumbed down" with so-called experts parroting what other "experts" have to say. Not a lot of scientific citations. In addition, many of these folks are selling books or vitamins ... ))

... I want to take collagen because I am 65 and it is difficult for us to digest and absorb protein as we get older. Collagen peptides are PROTEINS already partially broken down and more easily absorbed by the body.

So to prevent cancer from using collagen to help it survive and spread, why don't we lower our protein intake as well? Or are we concerned about "the unique way" collagen supplements enable protein production in the body?

We have nutrition elements floating around in the interstitial space between our cells (the watery goo our cells are surrounded by). That is where the amino acids live and are made available for our cells to use to build proteins (like collagen). There is no "collagen" floating around in the goo.

Am I wrong here?
Any biology majors available?

mabbs24,

My head is still spinning from all of the cancer research I have done...this article you posted has some great information. Sorry to sound like a broken record! 🙂