Table 2.
Cell stiffness and related causes in different tumor entities, together with an overview of the methods for measuring cell stiffness.
| Tumor entity | Method | Treatment | Stiffness effects on therapy resistance | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breast cancer | Optical tweezers | Different stiffness substrates | ↓ECM stiffness, ↑cellular stiffness | (82) |
| Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) | Soft and stiff gels//EGFR inhibitor (Cetuximab) | ↑stiffness when cultured on stiffer substrates//↑stiffness upon EGFR inhibition | (83) | |
| Prostate cancer | Magnetic twisting cytometry | Paclitaxel | ↑stiffness, ↑resistance, ↑fluid-like behavior | (84) |
| Ovarian cancer | Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) | Cisplatin | ↑stiffness, ↑resistance | (85) |
| Filtration device depending on cellular pressure driven deformation | Cisplatin | ↓stiffness, ↑resistance | (86) | |
| Liver cancer | Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) | Different shear stresses (parallel plated flow chamber) | ↑shear stress, ↓stiffness | (87) |
| Leukemia | Microfluidic system for cell sorting and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) | Daunorubicin | ↓stiffness, ↑resistance | (88) |
| Transformed mesenchymal stem cells | Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) | Hypermethylation of cancer 1 (HIC1) and Ras-association domain family member 1A (RassF1A) | ↓stiffness, ↑tumor aggressiveness | (89) |