Metastasizing Cancer Cells Prefer Denser Collagen

Scientists at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), have shown how the extracellular environment surrounding a tumor can affect the ease with which cancer cells can metastasize to other sites. The studies, headed by Stephanie Fraley, Ph.D., professor of bioengineering at UCSD’s department of bioengineering, showed that cancer cells placed in an 3D matrix of high-density collagen, but not low-density collagen, develop structures that resemble blood vessels and express a characteri