| Cancer metastasis relates to the invasiveness of the cancer and is the main cause of mortality in cancer patients. We have developed a method based on soft-lithographic techniques to study cancer cell invasiveness in vitro. In this investigation, two breast cancer cell lines, MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-453, with varying metastatic potentials in vivo, were studied.; Results from the individual cell growth kinetic assays showed a similar doubling time, about one day for both cell lines. A random motility coefficient for the MDA-MB-231 cells was found to be about twenty times that of the MDA-MB-453 cells at 3.5386 × 10−6 cm2/sec and 1.6718 × 10−7 cm2/sec respectively. The cell island migration assays indicated that the MDA-MB-231 cell island invasion was mainly due to the rapid migration of single cells away from the island, while the MDA-MB-453 cell island invasion was a result of the gross expansion of the cell island due to cell proliferation.; An initial area effect was observed for both cell types. Islands with a smaller initial area invaded at much quicker rates than islands with larger areas initially. Mixed results were found for an initial shape effect on the invasion observed. Overall it is concluded that cell-cell interactions should be accounted for when determining the invasiveness of a cancer cell. |
