Cancer Intravasation

The Story.

When tumors spread to other parts of the body, they often do so by squeezing into nearby blood or lymph vessels. This process, known as intravasation, is a key step in the deadly process of metastasis. However, blood vessels are generally not built for cells to easily invade into; they are well-controlled barriers between the blood and tissue. Part of a larger explainer film on breast cancer metastasis, the goal of this animation was to capture the struggle a cancer cell might experience in this process. Using a combination of physical simulation and digital animation techniques, we built a system for animating a cancer cell pushing and squeezing into intercellular spaces of a blood vessel. The result is an animation that feels organic and believable, but that also clearly represents an important scientific message: getting into blood vessels is usually not easy.