Biomechanical interactions of cancer cells with the microvasculature during metastasis |
| |
Authors: | Leonard Weiss Geert W. Schmid-Schönbein |
| |
Affiliation: | (1) Department of Experimental Pathology, Roswell Park Memorial Institute, 14263 Buffalo, NY;(2) Department of Applied Mechanics and Engineering Sciences, University of California, San Diego, 92093 La Jolla, CA |
| |
Abstract: | Metastasis is a major, life-threatening complication of cancer. The bloodstream is the most important disseminative route for cancer cells liberated from their parent tumors. Single circulating cancer cells are arrested in the microvasculature, where the vast majority are killed by rapid or slow processes, and the relatively few survivors grow into micrometastases. We review the underlying causes of one type of rapid cancer cell death in the microcirculation, namely, that caused by biomechanical interactions of cancer cells with microvessel walls, which may result in cell surface membrane expansion and lethal rupture. These lethal interactions appear to be important rate-regulators in hematogenous metastasis, and to dictate some aspects of metastatic patterns. Although these are not the only interactions involving cancer cells, in contrast to others involving cellular and humoral defense mechanisms, they have received comparatively little attention. |
| |
Keywords: | Metastasis rate-regulation microvasculature biomechanics membranes cancer cells |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|