Study finds breast cancer's response to tumour stiffness may predict bone metastasis ANI | Updated: Jul 01, 2021 07:58 IST Washington [US], July 1 (ANI): A new study by University of Arizona Health Sciences researchers found that cancer cells become more aggressive when exposed to tissue stiffening and that these changes persist over time. The paper, 'Breast tumour stiffness instructs bone metastasis via maintenance of mechanical conditioning', published in the journal Cell Reports, found that the stiffness of the breast tumour microenvironment can cause changes to cancer cells that make them more aggressively spread to the bone. Tumour stiffening, which develops as diseased breast tissue becomes fibrotic, plays a major role in how breast cancer cells spread throughout the body.