Abstract
Cancer is a disease in which cells in the body grow out of control; breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the United States. Due to early screening and advancements in therapeutic interventions, deaths from breast cancer have declined over time, although breast cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer death among women. Most deaths are due to metastasis, as cancer cells from the primary tumor in the breast form secondary tumors in remote sites in distant organs. Over many years, the basic biological mechanisms of breast cancer initiation and progression, as well as the subsequent metastatic cascade, have been studied using cell cultures and animal models. These models, although extremely useful for delineating cellular mechanisms, are poor predictors of physiological responses, primarily due to lack of proper microenvironments. In the last decade, microfluidics has emerged as a technology that could lead to a paradigm shift in breast cancer research. With the introduction of the organ-on-a-chip concept, microfluidic-based systems have been developed to reconstitute the dominant functions of several organs. These systems enable the construction of 3D cellular co-cultures mimicking in vivo tissue-level microenvironments, including that of breast cancer. Several reviews have been presented focusing on breast cancer formation, growth and metastasis, including invasion, intravasation, and extravasation. In this review, realizing that breast cancer can recur decades following post-treatment disease-free survival, we expand the discussion to account for microfluidic applications in the important areas of breast cancer detection, dormancy, and therapeutic development. It appears that, in the future, the role of microfluidics will only increase in the effort to eradicate breast cancer.
Highlights
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutralCell cultures have been major tools used in cellular and molecular biology for generations, and extremely useful for delineating cellular mechanisms, are poor predictors of physiological responses [1]
Microfluidic technology has enabled the reconstitution of functional units of organs on chips, far superior to traditional cell culture or animal models, to investigate human diseases such as cancer, with breast cancer being the second leading cause of cancer death among women
Metastasis is a key event of cancer progression and the primary cause of mortality in breast cancer patients
Summary
Cell cultures have been major tools used in cellular and molecular biology for generations, and extremely useful for delineating cellular mechanisms, are poor predictors of physiological responses [1]. On the other hand, presenting the same tissue microenvironment, physiology, and molecular interactions of humans, have dissimilar hormone and growth factor milieus, altered drug metabolism, and are difficult to finely tune at the cellular level [5]. These serious shortcomings emphasize the critical need to develop new in vitro biomimetic systems that better represent the in vivo human physiological conditions in effort to hasten biomedical innovation. In this review, we will summarize the applications of microfluidic systems in numerous facets of breast cancer research including metastasis, detection, and treatment
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