The Mechanics of Tumor Spheroids Revealed by a 3D Microfluidic Rheometer

Clinically, the feel, touch, and shape of a solid tumor are important diagnostic methods for malignancy of the tumor. Mechanistically, how tumor mechanics relate to their malignancy state is not well established. This is in part due to the lack of tools for which tumor mechanics as well as their single-cell dynamics can be followed simultaneously. In this talk, we will present the development of a microfluidic rheometer that can characterize the stiffness of the tumor spheroid alongside their invasiveness into a 3D ECM. Using this platform, we studied the mechanics and their invasiveness of breast tumors, in decreasing order of invasiveness, MDA-MB-231, MCF-7, and MCF-10A spheroids.