Cancer is now a global concern, and control of the function of cancer cells is recognized as an important challenge. Although many aggressive chemical and radiation methods are in practice to eliminate cancer cells, most of them imply severe adverse toxic effects on patients. Taking advantage of natural physical differences between cancer and normal cells might benefit the patient with more specific cytotoxicity and fewer adverse effects. Physical factors are the main means that can influence cell-biomaterial interaction. To explore the importance of attachment phenomena on cancer cells in this research, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates with varied stiffness and roughness were synthesized and lung cancer cell's behavior on these surfaces was examined. To achieve diverse surface topography SDBD plasma was used at various exposure times, and different stiffness was obtained by changing in curing agent amount. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and tensile modulus were employed to the characterization of roughness and stiffness respectively. Lung cancer cell survival and growth were studied by MTT and image processing analysis. The results indicated that softer and rougher surface made lung cancer cells to die. The number of detached cells, mean space of the detached cells, cellular coverage of surface, and the ratio of detached/ all cellular coverage were significantly affected by roughness and stiffness. Therefore, physical factors can control cell function, especially in lung cancer cells and these results might provide a strong base to help cancer cell removal.
Keywords: Cell attachment; Lung cancer; Polymeric substrate; Roughness; Stiffness.