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The Tumor Microenvironment

The Tumor Microenvironment

Every normal cell or tissue is embedded in a complex local environment called stroma, consisting of different cell types, a basal membrane, and blood vessels. As normal cells mutate and develop into cancer cells, their local environment also changes to allow cancer progression. The tumor microenvironment (TME) consists of a complex cellular matrix of stromal cells and the developing tumor. The cross-talk between cancer cells and surrounding stromal cells is critical to disrupt normal tissue...

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Updated: Dec 19, 2025

Modeling Breast Cancer in Human Breast Tissue using a Microphysiological System

Modeling Breast Cancer in Human Breast Tissue using a Microphysiological System

Published on: April 23, 2021

The Mechanical Microenvironment in Breast Cancer.

Stephen J P Pratt¹, Rachel M Lee², Stuart S Martin²

¹Program in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Department of Physiology, and Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum NCI Cancer Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 655 W. Baltimore Street, Bressler Research Building, Rm 10-020 D, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.

|June 7, 2020

Summary

Cancer cells respond to physical cues like stiffness and pressure. This review focuses on how increased stiffness, interstitial fluid pressure, and solid stress in the tumor microenvironment promote breast cancer progression.

Keywords:

breast cancer interstitial fluid pressure mechanobiology mechanoresponsiveness mechanosensation mechanotransduction solid stress stiffness

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Published on: January 8, 2018

Area of Science:

Biomedical Engineering
Cancer Biology
Cellular Mechanobiology

Background:

Mechanotransduction translates physical forces into cellular biochemical signals.
Tumor microenvironments present unique physical cues that can be pathological in breast cancer.
Mechanical stress is integral to normal physiology but altered in cancer.

Purpose of the Study:

To review the role of three key mechanical stressors in breast cancer.
To explore how stiffness, interstitial fluid pressure, and solid stress modify breast cancer phenotypes.
To synthesize in vitro and in vivo evidence on mechanotransduction in breast cancer.

Main Methods:

Review of mechanistic in vitro data.
Analysis of in vivo evidence.
Focus on stiffness, interstitial fluid pressure, and solid stress as mechanical modifiers.

Main Results:

Increased stiffness, interstitial fluid pressure, and solid stress are associated with breast cancer.
These mechanical stressors are implicated in promoting malignant phenotypes in normal breast cells.
They are also suggested to exacerbate malignant phenotypes in existing breast cancer cells.

Conclusions:

Mechanical cues, specifically stiffness, interstitial fluid pressure, and solid stress, significantly impact breast cancer.
Understanding these mechanotransduction pathways is crucial for developing novel breast cancer therapies.
Targeting physical aspects of the tumor microenvironment may offer new therapeutic strategies.