The impact of chemotherapy on floating vs. attached colorectal cancer cells: An in-vitro study

Chemotherapy administered to cancer cells prior to full surface adhesion strongly impairs cancer cell adhesion, growth, and expansion. This phenomenon may partly explain the favorable clinical outcomes observed with (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy before and after complete cancer resection in PM and other cancer types. Floating cells seem to be more sensitive to chemotherapeutic agents than attached cells. Delaying and targeting specifically the ability of cancer cells to attach could help enormously in the treatment of many cancer manifestations such as PM. Further research is needed to confirm these findings in other cancer entities and to explore their potential clinical applications.