Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 7, 2025
10:23
Author Spotlight: Computing the Effects of a Local Radiofrequency Hyperthermia Intervention on Tumor Biomechanics
Published on: December 1, 2023
444
A Thermodynamic Perspective of Cancer Cells' Volume/Area Expansion Ratio
Umberto Lucia1, Debora Fino2, Thomas S Deisboeck3
1Dipartimento Energia "Galileo Ferraris", Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy.
Membranes
|December 22, 2023
Summary
The constructal law reveals that cancer cells
Area of Science:
- Thermodynamics
- Cancer Biology
- Biophysics
Background:
- Cancer cells exhibit unique heat transfer properties.
- Understanding tumor growth dynamics is crucial for effective treatment.
- The constructal law provides a framework for analyzing complex systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze resonant heat transfer in cancer cells using the constructal law.
- To investigate the role of the volume/area ratio in cancer growth and invasion.
- To propose novel therapeutic strategies based on thermodynamic principles.
Main Methods:
- Application of the constructal law to resonant heat transfer models in cancer cells.
- Analysis of the volume/area ratio in relation to tumor expansion and cell migration.
- Theoretical deduction of therapeutic targets.
Main Results:
- The volume/area ratio fundamentally influences cancer growth and invasion.
- Cancer cells increase surface area for heat dissipation, affecting tumor expansion.
- Tumor expansion ratio decreases with cell migration.
Conclusions:
- Effective anticancer therapy should focus on controlling ion transport to increase the volume/area ratio.
- Therapeutic strategies should aim to restrict tumor spatial expansion.
- Anti-migratory and anti-invasive treatments are superior to solely anti-proliferative options.
Related Concept Videos
02:53Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells
5.8K
Cancer cells accumulate genetic changes at an abnormally rapid rate due to the defects in the DNA repair mechanisms. From an evolutionary perspective, such genetic instability is advantageous for cancer development. Mutant cell lines accumulate a series of beneficial mutations that contribute to their progression into cancer.
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
5.8K
02:18Cancer
48.6K
Cancers arise due to mutations in genes involved in the regulation of cell division, which leads to unrestricted cell proliferation. Modern science and medicine have made great strides in the understanding and treatment of cancer, including eradicating cancer in some patients. However, there is still no cure for cancer. This is largely due to the fact that cancer is a large group of many diseases.
48.6K
02:17The Tumor Microenvironment
6.6K
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...
6.6K
01:22Thermal Expansion
4.4K
The expansion of alcohol in a thermometer is one of many commonly encountered examples of thermal expansion, which is the change in size or volume of a given system as its temperature changes. The most visible example is the expansion of hot air. When air is heated, it expands and becomes less dense than the surrounding air, which then exerts an upward force on the hot air to, for example, make steam and smoke rise, and hot air balloons float. The same behavior happens in all liquids and gases,...
4.4K
02:07Tumor Progression
6.3K
Tumor progression is a phenomenon where the pre-formed tumor acquires successive mutations to become clinically more aggressive and malignant. In the 1950s, Foulds first described the stepwise progression of cancer cells through successive stages.
Colon cancer is one of the best-documented examples of tumor progression. Early mutation in the APC gene in colon cells causes a small growth on the colon wall called a polyp. With time, this polyp grows into a benign, pre-cancerous tumor. Further...
Colon cancer is one of the best-documented examples of tumor progression. Early mutation in the APC gene in colon cells causes a small growth on the colon wall called a polyp. With time, this polyp grows into a benign, pre-cancerous tumor. Further...
6.3K
02:49Cancer Therapies
7.7K
Cancer therapies are various modes of treatment, such as surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy that are administered to cancer patients.
However, cancer treatments can pose several challenges, as therapies used to kill cancer cells are generally also toxic to normal cells. Moreover, cancer cells mutate rapidly and can develop resistance to chemical agents or radiation therapy. Besides, all types of cancer cells may not respond to the same therapy. Some cancer cells respond to one...
However, cancer treatments can pose several challenges, as therapies used to kill cancer cells are generally also toxic to normal cells. Moreover, cancer cells mutate rapidly and can develop resistance to chemical agents or radiation therapy. Besides, all types of cancer cells may not respond to the same therapy. Some cancer cells respond to one...
7.7K