In addition to repressing the expression of several collagen transcripts, we also found that FoxO was necessary for the coordinate increase in the gene expression of matrix metalloproteinase 8 (Mmp8) and Mmp9 in muscles of cachectic tumor-bearing mice (Table 2 and Additional file 3: Table S1), which participate in the degradation of Type I, II and III collagens and Type IV collagens, respectively. Here, MMP9 is linked to neoplasm.