Influence de la mécanique des fluides sur la formation des métastases

Abstract

La suite d’évènements menant à l’apparition de métastases est appelée « cascade métastatique ». L’étude récente de la composante biomécanique de cette cascade a révélé le rôle central des liquides biologiques dans la dissémination métastatique. Tout en participant au transport des cellules tumorales circulantes et des facteurs qu’elles sécrètent, ces liquides circulants influencent cette cascade par les forces mécaniques qu’ils génèrent. Les propriétés hémodynamiques et les contraintes topologiques de l’architecture vasculaire contrôlent la formation de niches métastatiques et le potentiel métastatique des cellules tumorales.

Metastases are the main cause of cancer-related deaths. The chain of events leading to their development is called “the metastatic cascade”. The biological and biochemical aspects of this process have been well studied but the importance of biomechanical parameters only recently became a focus in the field. Studies have shown the biological fluids (blood, lymph and interstitial fluid) to play a key role in the metastatic cascade. These fluids participate in the transport of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) as well as the factors that they secrete, while at the same time influencing the events of the metastatic cascade through the forces that they generate. The hemodynamic properties and topological constraints of the vascular architecture control the formation of metastatic niches and the metastatic potential of tumor cells. In this review, we discuss the importance of these mechanical forces and highlight the novel questions and research avenues that they open.