Cancer cells frequently overhaul their surroundings, making tumors stiffer than nearby healthy tissue. While tumor stiffening makes some cancers easier to detect — this is why physicians feel for hard lumps in the body — it can also ramp up tumor growth and drug resistance. New research suggests that these detrimental changes are not set in stone, however.
Researchers at Stanford University have created three-dimensional cell cultures, or organoids, using patient cells and a tunable biomaterial to mimic key elements of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), a particularly aggressive cancer. In a study in Nature Materials, the authors found that chemoresistance induced by stiff surroundings could be reversed by transferring the cancer cells to a less stiff environment.