Does Homeostatic Pressure Explain Tumor Growth?

Extract

To the much-studied genetic and biochemical forces that govern cell growth, dysplasia, and metastasis, a burgeoning science—call it mechanical biology—is adding forces that might seem more applicable to airliners and skyscrapers. Shear, friction, stress, tension, and viscosity also play a role in oncogenesis, according to researchers exploring this interface between biology and physics.

“To grow, a tumor must, most of the time, push normal tissue out of its natural position,” said Jacques Prost, Ph.D. , of the Curie Institute in Paris, a leader in the physical sciences research department where Pierre and Marie Curie discovered radium and Paul Langevin discovered sonar. “Mechanical forces are at work, hence the necessity of investigating their importance.”

In a new report, Prost and his colleagues propose a mathematical model, based on existing clinical and laboratory data, that explains how a mechanical force that they call homeostatic pressure affects tumor growth and metastasis. Writing in the American Institute of Physics HFSP Journal, the physicists argue that analyzing cancer strictly on the basis of DNA abnormalities or chemical on–off switches cannot fully account for clinical and experimental data. The authors claim that their approach could lead to “a quantitative, experimentally accessible measure for the metastatic potential of early malignant growths.”