ArticleBiophysical journal2003
The universal dynamics of tumor growth.
Article in Biophysical journal, 2003. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 87 papers.
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Who cites it
87 citing papers in PubMed, 397 citations in OpenAlex.
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- A Neutron Reflection Study of the Dissolution of Miscible Glassy Polymer Films over a Range of Temperature.Macromolecules · 2025Article
- The depth of tumor hierarchy and its impact on hypertumor susceptibility.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Proper likelihood functions for parameter estimation in S-shaped models of unperturbed tumor growth.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Tissue stresses caused by invasive tumour: a biomechanical model.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2025Article
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- Computer simulation study of nutrient-driven bacterial biofilm stratification.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2024Article
- Morphological Stability for in silico Models of Avascular Tumors.Bulletin of mathematical biology · 2024Article
- What matters for drug delivery to tumor by nanoparticles: Gaining insights from PBPK/PD simulation of drug nanocrystals.ADMET & DMPK · 2024Article
- Metastasis Models: Thermodynamics and Complexity.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2024Article
- Multifractal Analysis of Brain Tumor Interface in Glioblastoma.Advances in neurobiology · 2024Article
- Computer tomography-based shape of tumor contour and texture of tumor heterogeneity are independent prognostic indicators for clinical T1b-T2 renal cell carcinoma.World journal of urology · 2023Article
- Review
27 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Scaling techniques were used to analyze the fractal nature of colonies of 15 cell lines growing in vitro as well as of 16 types of tumor developing in vivo. All cell colonies were found to exhibit exactly the same growth dynamics-which correspond to the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) universality class. MBE dynamics are characterized by 1), a linear growth rate, 2), the constraint of cell proliferation to the colony/tumor border, and 3), surface diffusion of cells at the growing edge. These characteristics were experimentally verified in the studied colonies. That these should show MBE dynamics is in strong contrast with the currently established concept of tumor growth: the kinetics of this type of proliferation rules out exponential or Gompertzian growth. Rather, a clear linear growth regime is followed. The importance of new cell movements-cell diffusion at the tumor border-lies in the fact that tumor growth must be conceived as a competition for space between the tumor and the host, and not for nutrients or other factors. Strong experimental evidence is presented for 16 types of tumor, the growth of which cell surface diffusion may be the main mechanism responsible in vivo. These results explain most of the clinical and biological features of colonies and tumors, offer new theoretical frameworks, and challenge the wisdom of some current clinical strategies.
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