Overview

In pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, an extensive stromal reaction drives tumour progression and contributes to the lethality of the disease. An understanding of the causes of this desmoplastic response, and the consequent effects of a highly rigid stromal extracellular matrix on tumour cell phenotype, would therefore be a pivotal step in the quest to improve patient outcomes. Methods are now available to investigate force sensing in vivo, so it is timely to determine how stromal rigidity drives tumour proliferation.