Chapter 4: From Cancer Evolution to Treatment: Viscoelastic Aspects of Solid Cancers

Breast cancer is females’ most common cancer, with a high mortality rate primarily due to metastasis to secondary sites in the body. The migration of cancer cells from the primary tumor is influenced by physical interactions between cancer cells and surrounding epithelium and the extracellular matrix. Cumulative effects of these interactions arise in the form of physical factors such as solid stress accumulated within a tumor spheroid, tissue surface tension, and the viscoelasticity caused by collective cell migration. The cancer spreading is regulated by solid stress generated in spheroid core region during tumor growth and its interactions with external tissue. Tissue viscoelasticity and surface tension are influenced by strength of cell–cell and cell–extracellular matrix adhesion contacts, intracellular signalling cascades, viscoelasticity of extracellular matrix, and cell contractility in response to microenvironmental conditions. However, the interplay between those factors is still unclear. In order to clarify this issue, it is necessary to consider and compare the rearrangement of various mono-cultured breast cancer and epithelial model systems under in vitro conditions like rearrangement of cell spheroids and the fusion of two cell spheroids. In this chapter, focus is on the multi-scale modelling approaches aimed at reproducing and understanding these biological systems.