ArticleNature nanotechnology2007
Nanomechanical analysis of cells from cancer patients.
Article in Nature nanotechnology, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 634 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
634 citing papers in PubMed.
- Mechanical regulation of cell memory.Nature structural & molecular biology · 2026Review
- Decoding mechanoregulation in immunological synapses using biomimetic artificial cells.Nature methods · 2026Article
- Turning resistance into therapeutic vulnerability: Mechano-reprogramming in cancer.Mechanobiology in medicine · 2026Article
- Nanoscale-Sensitive VSFG Microscopy for Identifying Breast Tumor in FFPE Samples.Chemical & biomedical imaging · 2026Article
- Atomic force microscopy-based nanomechanical signatures as cancer biomarkers in a nutshell.FEBS letters · 2026Review
- 3D-Printed Structures Versus Drilled Cavities: A Comparison of Microconfinement Methods for Rheological Characterisation of Multicellular Aggregates.Journal of molecular recognition : JMR · 2026Article
- A 3D model to evaluate cell chemotaxis within a heterogenic tumor microenvironment.Lab on a chip · 2026Article
- Cell Mechanics in Cancer: Integrating Mechanotransduction Pathways Within the Tumor Microenvironment.Journal of cellular physiology · 2026Review
- Force Spectroscopy by Atomic Force Microscopy as Indicator for Cellular Microplastic Uptake.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Interpreting tissue stiffening with lung tumorigenesis by imaging architectural resembling of extracellular matrix components.Communications biology · 2026Article
- The Potential Role of Tumor Microorganisms in Remodeling Tumor Biomechanical Signals and Application Strategies in Tumor Therapy.Microorganisms · 2026Review
- Cytoskeletal prestress homeostasis is a biological principle that governs living cell structure and function.Mechanobiology in medicine · 2026Review
- Cancer in disguise: a parasite within.The EMBO journal · 2026Review
- The effects of blast-induced traumatic brain injury on brain cellular mechanics and differentiation.PloS one · 2026Article
- Mechanical properties of the tumor microenvironment: drivers of immunotherapy resistance in solid tumors.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Influence of Magneto-Mechanical Stress on Cellular Membranes, Ion Channel Activity, and Gene Expression Dynamics.Results and problems in cell differentiation · 2026Review
- Looking at endometriosis-diagnosis and disease mechanisms through a mechanical lens.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Review
- Nuclear Mechanotransduction at the Crossroads: How Membrane Receptors Remodel the Perinuclear Cytoskeleton to Drive Cancer and Disease.International journal of biological sciences · 2026Review
- Modeling of Tumor Cell Adhesion, Extravasation, and Sorting in a Microvascular System.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Article
- Comparison of viscoelastic properties of breast cancer and normal cells using AFM, FLIM and ToF-SIMS techniques.Scientific reports · 2025Article
574 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Change in cell stiffness is a new characteristic of cancer cells that affects the way they spread. Despite several studies on architectural changes in cultured cell lines, no ex vivo mechanical analyses of cancer cells obtained from patients have been reported. Using atomic force microscopy, we report the stiffness of live metastatic cancer cells taken from the body (pleural) fluids of patients with suspected lung, breast and pancreas cancer. Within the same sample, we find that the cell stiffness of metastatic cancer cells is more than 70% softer, with a standard deviation over five times narrower, than the benign cells that line the body cavity. Different cancer types were found to display a common stiffness. Our work shows that mechanical analysis can distinguish cancerous cells from normal ones even when they show similar shapes. These results show that nanomechanical analysis correlates well with immunohistochemical testing currently used for detecting cancer.
Indexed as
Identifiers
18654431What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.