Brain cancer self-organizes into streams, swirls, and spheres

Brain cancer is not anarchy, say researchers but highly organized--self-organized. Researchers report that glioma cells build tumors by self-organizing into streams,10-20 cells wide, that obey a mathematically predicted pattern for autonomous agents flowing together. These streams drag along slower gliomas, may block entry of immune cells, and swirl around a central axis containing glioma stem cells that feed the tumor's growth.