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Physics of Cancer: Measurement and Modelling of Post-Radiotherapy Cell Migration to Assess Metastasis

A Walther*, M Merrick , C Weeder , H Akhter , M Mimlitz , A Ekpenyong , Creighton University, Omaha, NE, USA.

Presentations

(Sunday, 7/14/2019)  

Room: ePoster Forums

Purpose: Physics of Cancer is a novel research frontier which seeks to unravel the role of physical interactions and mechanical forces in metastasis. Metastasis itself is the complex process by which cancer cells spread from the primary tumor to other tissues and organs of the body where they form new tumors. It leads to over 90% of all cancer deaths. An important step in the metastatic cascade is migration. Various chemotherapeutic and radiotherapeutic approaches target cancer cell proliferation and not metastasis. In view of developing anti-metastasis strategies alongside radiotherapy and chemotherapy, we have recently quantified extensively, the impact of these approaches on cancer cell migration, using bioimpedance as readout. Here, we present mathematical models for our vast experimental data which provide mechanistic insights into the role of various chemotherapeutic and radiotherapeutic approaches on cancer metastasis.

Methods: Having recently used a commercially available Electric Cell Impedance Sensor (ECIS) to quantify the migration of various cancer cell lines following chemotherapy and following radiotherapy (2 Gy, 10 Gy and 20 Gy) using a cell irradiator, Faxitron CellRad, we applied both integer order and fractional order equivalent circuits to model the bioimpedance data, using codes in MATLAB.

Results: Preliminary fits of equivalent circuit models are currently being done and results will be presented. Moreover, even without data fitting, we find that the irradiated HCN2 cells (neurons) and T98G cells (Glioblastoma, brain cancer cells) attach and migrate significantly more (p<0.0001) than non-irradiated cells in the first 20-40 hours post irradiation.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that cell migration should be a therapeutic target in anti-metastasis strategies for improved radiotherapy and chemotherapy outcomes.

Keywords

Modeling, Mechanical Properties, Radiation Effects

Taxonomy

TH- response assessment : General (most aspects)

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