Cancer Mechanics
Mechanical properties of cancer cells.
Viscoelasticity · creep · cellular mechanics · cytoskeleton · heterogeneity · breast cancer · triple-negative breast cancer
Research archive
Questions, experiments, findings, and the evidence behind them.
Years spent investigating how disease changes biology at the cellular, mechanical, and material levels.
Research
Research at the cellular, mechanical, and material levels.
Brain Cancer
Single-cell mechanics in normal and neoplastic brain cells.
Glioblastoma · single-cell mechanics · viscoelastic properties · brain microenvironment · brain metastasis
Tumor Microenvironment
How physical and metabolic conditions shape disease behavior.
Mechanical stress · immune escape · mechanical/metabolic interactions · tumor microenvironment
Biomaterials & Cancer Treatment
Engineering materials for targeted delivery and treatment.
Magnetite nanoparticles · PDMS · PLGA/PCL · doxorubicin · hyperthermia · photothermal treatment
Research story / 01
Mechanical biomarkers for cancer detection
The question. Can cancer cells be distinguished through their mechanical behavior?
The approach. Single-cell mechanical characterization, viscoelastic creep analysis, cytoskeletal characterization, and quantitative/statistical analysis.
The finding. Investigated measurable differences and heterogeneity in malignant and non-malignant cell behavior.
Why it matters. The work provides a scientific framework for exploring mechanical properties as potential biomarkers for cancer detection.
Research story / 02
Understanding the mechanics of brain cancer
The question. How do normal and neoplastic brain cells compare mechanically at the single-cell level?
The approach. A single-cell mechanical assay and analysis of viscoelastic behavior in normal brain cells and glioblastoma cells.
The finding. The 2024 Biophysical Journal work produced a nuanced comparison rather than forcing a simplistic “cancer is softer or harder” narrative.
Why it matters. Mechanical behavior is heterogeneous and context-dependent, which makes careful measurement essential to meaningful interpretation.
Selected publications include work in Biophysical Journal, Journal of Functional Biomaterials, Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine, Cells, Frontiers in Oncology, and Journal of Biomedical Materials Research.
Published research
Questions made public.
Peer-reviewed work connecting scientific curiosity to a body of evidence — each with the finding, why it matters for innovative medicine and therapies, and the full paper to download.
10
Peer-reviewed publications
9
Scientific journals
2022–2026
Years of active research
100%
Full text downloadable
Featured work
Flagship finding
2023·Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine
Targeted drug-loaded PLGA-PCL microspheres for specific and localized treatment of triple negative breast cancer
Nwazojie, Obayemi, Salifu, Borbor-Sawyer, Uzonwanne, Onyekanne, Akpan, Onwudiwe, Oparah, Odusanya, Soboyejo
The finding. EphA2-targeted prodigiosin and paclitaxel encapsulated in PLGA-PCL microspheres sustained drug release for 90–140 days, killed triple-negative breast cancer cells in vitro, and eliminated residual tumors in mice after surgical resection — with no metastasis or organ toxicity 12 weeks later. Non-targeted drug formulations, by contrast, allowed the tumors to regrow.
Why it matters. This is a blueprint for an implantable, tumor-bed-specific drug depot: place it where a tumor was just removed and let it release a targeted drug on its own schedule. That kind of localized, receptor-targeted, sustained release is exactly what is needed to cut systemic chemotherapy toxicity while directly attacking the cells most likely to cause recurrence.
Targeted drug deliveryPLGA-PCLEphA2Localized recurrence prevention
2024·Biophysical Journal
Single-cell mechanical assay unveils viscoelastic similarities in normal and neoplastic brain cells
The finding. Using a microfluidic shear assay and digital image correlation, glioblastoma cells and normal astrocytes showed statistically indistinguishable stiffness, viscosity, and stress-relaxation behavior — unlike breast, bone, and kidney cancers, where malignant cells are consistently softer than their normal counterparts.
Why it matters. This result is a caution against a one-size-fits-all "cancer cells are softer" biomarker and points to why glioblastoma so rarely spreads outside the brain. It reframes where mechanical biomarkers and cell-mechanotyping diagnostics will and will not work, and it is a needed data point for anyone designing brain-specific liquid-biopsy or single-cell diagnostic tools.
Single-cell mechanicsGlioblastomaViscoelasticityDiagnostic biomarkers
2026·Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials
Distinguishing cancerous from non-malignant breast cells using viscoelastic creep and functional principal component analysis
The finding. Functional principal component analysis (fPCA) of single-cell creep-compliance time series — no manual model-fitting required — separated non-tumorigenic, less-metastatic, and highly-metastatic breast cells into distinguishable clusters. A single component (PC1), capturing overall creep compliance, explained over 98% of the variance and correlated strongly with independently measured cell modulus (-83%) and viscosity (-85%).
Why it matters. This replaces subjective, model-selection-dependent viscoelastic curve-fitting with an unbiased, automatable, data-driven pipeline for turning raw single-cell mechanical measurements into a cancer-malignancy signal — a step toward scalable, less-operator-dependent mechanical diagnostics and microfluidic screening tools.
Functional data analysisCreep complianceCell mechanicsData science
2022·Cells
Do Tumor Mechanical Stresses Promote Cancer Immune Escape?
The finding. This perspective synthesizes evidence that fluid shear stress and solid stress inside tumors activate epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and autophagy — two mechanisms cancer cells already use to resist T-cell and NK-cell killing and blunt the response to checkpoint-blockade immunotherapy.
Why it matters. It builds the case for combining mechanics-targeting drugs — anti-fibrotics, FAK/YAP inhibitors, angiotensin blockers — with immunotherapy, a rationale now being tested in real trials (losartan + nivolumab; pirfenidone + atezolizumab). It positions tumor mechanobiology as a new lever for improving immunotherapy response rates.
Immune evasionMechanotransductionImmunotherapyTumor microenvironment
2022·Journal of Applied Polymer Science
Mechanical and thermal properties of polydimethylsiloxane/magnetite nanocomposites for cancer treatment by localized hyperthermia and photothermal ablation
PDMS/magnetite nanocomposites with 1–10 wt.% reinforcement showed tunable stiffness and toughness that closely matched published breast-tissue moduli, validated against composite and crack-toughening models (crack deflection and bridging), while gaining thermal stability from the magnetite filler.
BiomaterialsMagnetite nanoparticlesHyperthermiaPhotothermal ablation
2022·Frontiers in Oncology
Mechanical and metabolic interplay in the brain metastatic microenvironment
This perspective maps how the brain’s glucose abundance, softer extracellular matrix, and YAP/TAZ mechanotransduction jointly reprogram the metabolism (glycolysis, lipid and cholesterol synthesis) and mechanics (cell stiffening) of breast cancer cells once they colonize the brain.
Brain metastasisTumor metabolismMechanobiologyYAP/TAZ signaling
2022·Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A
Investigation of creep properties and the cytoskeletal structures of non-tumorigenic breast cells and triple-negative breast cancer cells
Shear-assay creep mapping of individual cells showed triple-negative breast cancer cells have measurably lower actin and keratin-18 density, higher creep rates, and lower stiffness/viscosity than normal breast cells — with creep strain following a lognormal distribution and viscoelastic properties following normal distributions.
Cell viscoelasticityCytoskeletonShear assayCancer detection
2023·Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part B
Laser-induced heating of polydimethylsiloxane-magnetite nanocomposites for hyperthermic inhibition of triple-negative breast cancer cell proliferation
Near-infrared laser exposure of magnetite/PDMS nanocomposites reached hyperthermic temperatures (41–44°C), reduced triple-negative breast cancer cell viability in vitro, and heated safely through chicken tissue without physical damage — with a finite-element heat-transport model matching the experimental temperature and thermal-dose results.
Photothermal therapyMagnetite nanocompositesFinite element modelingHyperthermia
2022·Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part B
Sustained release of alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase (AMACR) antibody-conjugated and free doxorubicin from silica nanoparticles for prostate cancer cell growth inhibition
Dextran-capped MCM-41 silica nanoparticles gave sustained release of doxorubicin over 30 days; the AMACR-antibody-targeted formulation outperformed free doxorubicin at inhibiting prostate cancer cell growth over 96 hours, with full release kinetics and thermodynamics characterized.
Silica nanoparticlesDoxorubicinTargeted therapyProstate cancer
2024·Journal of Functional Biomaterials
Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone (LHRH)-Conjugated Cancer Drug Delivery from Magnetite Nanoparticle-Modified Microporous Poly-Di-Methyl-Siloxane (PDMS) Systems for the Targeted Treatment of Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells
LHRH-conjugated prodigiosin and paclitaxel released from magnetite-modified PDMS devices over 30 days at 37–44°C produced significantly higher triple-negative breast cancer growth inhibition than unconjugated drugs, with flow cytometry confirming induction of early- and late-stage apoptosis.
LHRH targetingDrug-eluting implantsApoptosisTriple-negative breast cancer