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The Universal Dynamics of Tumor Growth

Antonio Brú ^*, Sonia Albertos , José Luis Subiza , José López García-Asenjo  and Isabel Brú ^¶

^* CCMA, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 28006 Madrid, Spain; Servicio de Aparato Digestivo, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, 28003 Madrid, Spain; Servicio de Inmunología, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, 28003 Madrid, Spain; Servicio de Anatomía Patológica, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, 28003 Madrid, Spain; and ^¶ Centro de Salud La Estación, 45600 Talavera de La Reina, Toledo, Spain

Correspondence: Address reprint requests to Antonio Brú, Serrano 115, 28015 Madrid, Spain. Tel.: 34-91-7452500; E-mail: antonio.bru{at}ccma.csic.es.

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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				A. Bru, S. Albertos, J. L. Subiza, J. Lopez Garcia-Asenjo, and I. Bru Reply to Comments by Buceta and Galeano Regarding the Article "The Universal Dynamics of Tumor Growth" Biophys. J., May 1, 2005; 88(5): 3737 - 3738. [Full Text] [PDF]