Feb.10 – 12
2010
No area of research better illustrates the constructive engagement of physics and cancer biology than the burgeoning field of cell mechanics. This workshop focused on the mechanical properties of healthy and cancer cells and the surrounding tissues. It covered topics such as changes in the elastic properties of cancer cells, the internal chemical and genetic changes triggered by the physical properties of the micro-environment (such as its hardness or surface adhesion) and the motility of cells, with special emphasis on metastasis. It brought together physicists, oncologists, cancer biologists, engineers and computer scientists, with the goal of determining whether cancer could be better understood and even controlled by manipulating the physical properties of the cancer cells’ environment.
