Chemical Engineering Applications in Cancer

This session highlights the contributions of chemical engineers addressing unique features of cancer. Two presentations are focused on molecular heterogeneity of exosomes, their biophysical and molecular characterization, and their role in metastasis, drug resistance, and evasion of the immune response. The impact of mass transport on tumor progression, dormancy, and recurrence is examined in another presentation. The tumor microenvironment is further discussed in a presentation focused on improving cancer immunotherapy outcomes. Two elegant strategies for development of therapeutic nanoparticles are described. The usefulness of chemical engineering principles in designing improved chemotherapy regimens is demonstrated by one of the contributions.