You might think of cancer as a mass of rogue cells that grow uncontrollably. But cancer is more organized and strategic than that. Rather, cancer is a tightly controlled cellular neighborhood that can keep the body’s defenses out or weaken them once they get in.
Cancer behaves like a gated community. It has its own residents, rules and security systems. Together, these features create what scientists refer to as the tumor microenvironment, where cancer cells live and interact with the body. To devise new treatments that can break into this neighborhood, researchers are learning how cancer builds its own roadways and places improvised explosive devices to destroy any unwanted guests, including anticancer drugs.
