Physics as a Driver of Convergent Oncology

Intracellular – genetically as well as epigenetically induced – molecular changes and cell signaling are the basis of cancer as a deadly malady. The hallmarks of cancer show that tumor heterogeneity, cellular interactions and feedback by the microenvironment are correspondingly quintessential to grasp cancer progression. Despite the wide variety of genetic and molecular information available to characterize a patient’s tumor, a precise individual prediction of cancer progression is only possible to a limited extent. This suggests that vital data about tumor progression are missing such as the physical and mechanical properties of cells and surrounding tissue. Considering the complexity of cancer as a systemic disease recently high expectations have been raised that an interdisciplinary approach by combining biology, chemistry, mathematics, engineering, big data, and physics with biomedicine will lead to convergent oncology. Emergent phenomena which are not directly triggered by a specific molecule can be only understood by a convergent approach. The meeting will focus on these multidisciplinary approaches and their success in understanding fundamental cancer progression as well as in developing potential translational perspectives.