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A purple-stained section of an invasive breast cancer growth. The dark purple non-fatty tissue takes up the majority of the frame, and pale purple circular tumors grow in ducts in the bottom left.
Harboring Hard and Soft Cells Lets Tumors Grow and Metastasize Simultaneously
Islands of rigid cells within a matrix of soft ones allow tumors to be both solid and fluid, granting them toughness without losing the ability to break apart.
Harboring Hard and Soft Cells Lets Tumors Grow and Metastasize Simultaneously
Harboring Hard and Soft Cells Lets Tumors Grow and Metastasize Simultaneously

Islands of rigid cells within a matrix of soft ones allow tumors to be both solid and fluid, granting them toughness without losing the ability to break apart.

Islands of rigid cells within a matrix of soft ones allow tumors to be both solid and fluid, granting them toughness without losing the ability to break apart.

cell shape

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The causes of a cell’s three-dimensional structure remain a fundamental mystery of cell biology.
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