Tumor cancer
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Understanding Tumor Cancer: Physical Traits, Microenvironment, and Progression
Physical Traits of Tumor Cancer
Elevated Solid Stresses in Tumors
Tumors exhibit elevated solid stresses due to the proliferation and migration of cancer cells, which push and stretch the surrounding tissue. These stresses are significant enough to compress blood and lymphatic vessels, impairing blood flow and the delivery of oxygen, drugs, and immune cells. This compression activates signaling pathways that promote tumorigenesis, invasiveness, and treatment resistance.
Increased Interstitial Fluid Pressure
Tumors also have elevated interstitial fluid pressure caused by plasma leakage from abnormally permeable blood vessels and insufficient lymphatic drainage. This pressure leads to edema, drug elution, and facilitates invasion and metastasis through flow-induced shear stresses.
Altered Tissue Stiffness
Increased stiffness in tumors results from matrix deposition and remodeling. This stiffness, traditionally used as a diagnostic marker, activates signaling pathways that promote cancer cell proliferation, invasiveness, and metastasis.
Disrupted Microarchitecture
Cancer growth disrupts normal tissue architecture, leading to altered microarchitecture. This reorganization affects interactions between cells and their surrounding matrix, influencing signaling pathways associated with invasion and metastasis.
The Tumor Microenvironment
Composition and Role
The tumor microenvironment (TME) is a heterogeneous collection of cancer cells, host cells, secreted factors, and extracellular matrix. It plays an active role in cancer progression by supporting cancer cell survival, local invasion, and metastatic dissemination. Key components include immune cells, stromal cells, blood vessels, and extracellular matrix.
Immune Cells in the TME
The TME is infiltrated with diverse adaptive and innate immune cells that can perform both pro- and anti-tumorigenic functions. The dynamic relationship between cancer cells and the TME promotes angiogenesis to restore oxygen and nutrient supply and remove metabolic waste.
Inflammatory Microenvironment
In lung cancer, the inflammatory microenvironment is crucial. Inflammatory cells and factors activate pathways like NF-κB and STAT3, promoting immune escape, tumor angiogenesis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and metastasis.
Cancer Progression and Genetic Mutations
Genetic Alterations and Clonal Selection
Cancer progression involves alterations in gene sequences and expression, leading to clonal selection. This evolutionary process promotes the outgrowth of pre-cancerous and cancerous cells with robust proliferative and survival properties. Oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes play critical roles, with mutations leading to gain-of-function in oncogenes and loss-of-function in tumor suppressor genes.
Multistep Nature of Cancer
Cancer development requires multiple mutations, typically three to six, each driving cellular multiplication and increasing tumor size, disorganization, and malignancy.
Conclusion
Understanding the physical traits of tumors, the complex tumor microenvironment, and the genetic alterations driving cancer progression is crucial for developing effective treatments. The interplay between these factors highlights the need for a multidisciplinary approach in cancer research and therapy, integrating insights from biology, physics, and immunology to improve patient outcomes.
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