Scemama Alice, Lunetto Sophia, Biddle Adrian
Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
In Vitro Model. 2022 Jun 27;1(6):399-403. doi: 10.1007/s44164-022-00023-y. eCollection 2022 Dec.
Whilst cancer is the single most researched disease by number of clinical trials, it remains a leading cause of death in middle- to high-income countries, with metastasis as the prime factor in cancer-associated mortality. The complex, multistep process of metastasis, in which cancer cells disseminate from the primary tumour and home to distant sites, is modulated by an extensive set of factors such as matrix properties, cancer cell plasticity, intercellular communication and oxygen tension. However, traditional treatment approaches have been focussed on the removal of the primary and secondary lesions, rather than interference with the metastatic cascade. Microfluidic platforms enable the deconvolution of the processes involved in metastasis by recapitulating key aspects of the tumour microenvironment in a controlled and reproducible fashion. Herein, we review recent developments in microfluidics for metastasis research and explain how these devices offer exceptional potential towards gaining a deeper understanding of this key aspect of malignancy.
虽然从临床试验数量来看，癌症是研究最多的单一疾病，但在中高收入国家，它仍然是主要的死亡原因，转移是癌症相关死亡的主要因素。转移是一个复杂的多步骤过程，癌细胞从原发性肿瘤扩散并迁移到远处部位，这一过程受到一系列广泛因素的调节，如基质特性、癌细胞可塑性、细胞间通讯和氧张力。然而，传统的治疗方法一直侧重于切除原发性和继发性病变，而不是干扰转移级联反应。微流控平台能够通过以可控和可重复的方式重现肿瘤微环境的关键方面，对转移过程进行解卷积分析。在此，我们综述了用于转移研究的微流控技术的最新进展，并解释了这些设备如何为深入了解恶性肿瘤的这一关键方面提供了巨大潜力。
