Hypertumors in cancer can be caused by tumor phosphorus demand

In cancer, tumoral and peritumoral environmental conditions are controlled mostly by the unusual metabolism of malignant cells. For example, tumors typically demand much more phosphorus (P) than normal tissue does, primarily because tumor cells upregulate ribosome biogenesis. Here I use mathematical models to show that this unusual demand for P can lead to a hypertumor, which is a region of highly aggressive cells growing parasitically on the original tumor that can kill all or part of it. Previous work has suggested that hypertumors may develop when a tumor is invaded by an aggressive cell type that fails to secrete angiogenesis factors. In this talk I introduce an entirely different mechanism of hypertumor development. In this case, the aggressive strain upregulates phosphate transporters, leading to increased growth potential, which allows tumor cells to outpace growing blood vessels. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)