Softer surroundings stifle some chemotherapy drugs

Cancer cells grown in stiffer gels more vulnerable to treatment, study finds

PHILADELPHIA — Keeping a stiff upper lip may help some chemotherapy drugs fight cancer. Some such drugs, including the leukemia drug Gleevec, don’t work as well as expected when blood cancer cells grow in soft surroundings, bioengineers Jae-Won Shin and David Mooney of Harvard University reported December 7 at the annual meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology.