TY - JOUR AU - Frieboes, Hermann B. AU - Raghavan, Shreya AU - Godin, Biana PY - 2020 M3 - Review TI - Modeling of Nanotherapy Response as a Function of the Tumor Microenvironment: Focus on Liver Metastasis JO - Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2020.01011 VL - 8 SN - 2296-4185 N2 - The tumor microenvironment (TME) presents a challenging barrier for effective nanotherapy-mediated drug delivery to solid tumors. In particular for tumors less vascularized than the surrounding normal tissue, as in liver metastases, the structure of the organ itself conjures with cancer-specific behavior to impair drug transport and uptake by cancer cells. Cells and elements in the TME of hypovascularized tumors play a key role in the process of delivery and retention of anti-cancer therapeutics by nanocarriers. This brief review describes the drug transport challenges and how they are being addressed with advanced in vitro 3D tissue models as well as with in silico mathematical modeling. This modeling complements network-oriented techniques, which seek to interpret intra-cellular relevant pathways and signal transduction within cells and with their surrounding microenvironment. With a concerted effort integrating experimental observations with computational analyses spanning from the molecular- to the tissue-scale, the goal of effective nanotherapy customized to patient tumor-specific conditions may be finally realized. ER -