COL1A1 and cancer: Among the extracellular matrix adhesive components, type I collagen is one of the most important factors regulating cancer-related events at different tumorigenesis stages [73] The COL1A1 gene encodes a pro-α1 chain of type I collagen, and it has been demonstrated that is overexpressed in colon cancer and it may be a driving gene for colon cancer progression [74,75].