Grant: CIHR Fellowship

The occurrence of cancer metastasis (spread of cancer) in distant organs is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths, however it is unclear how cancer cells escape their primary sites and disseminate to other sites in the body. The crucial first step for cancer to spread is its invasion into the surrounding tissue. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms that initiate cell invasion is of fundamental importance for targeting aggressive tumors. Notably, tumor progression is associated with marked reorganization of the tumor surrounding area, called the matrix microenvironment. In normal tissue, the matrix provides barrier that hinders inappropriate cell invasion, however in tumors the matrix can be 're-modeled' to create a scaffold that favors invasion. In addition to being a biological problem, the movement of cancer cells and matrix is also a physics problem. This complexity means we currently have only an imprecise mechanistic understanding of how tumor cells interpret and maneuver through the complex matrix microenvironment of different tissues and organs. This highlights that there is a need to use methods from many disciplines to understand the various effects of matrix microenvironment on cancer invasion. The proposed research program aims using multidisciplinary approach combining ideas and methods from both biology and physics. Biophysical measurements and multi-scale mathematical modeling will be used to investigate in vitro and in vivo models of tumor cells, normal cells, and natural matrix microenvironments. In particular, I want to understand how the matrix environment changes at the point that cancer begins to invade. Ultimately, this work will enhance our comprehension of invasion and help to identify new strategies for predicting the spread of cancer and managing disease that has started to invade.