Complex Biosystems Modeling Laboratory, HST-Biomedical Engineering Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. deisboec@helix.mgh.harvard.edu
Highly malignant neuroepithelial tumors are known for their extensive tissue invasion. Investigating the relationship between their spatial behavior and temporal patterns by employing detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA), we report here that faster glioma cell motility is accompanied by both greater predictability of the cells' migration velocity and concomitantly, more directionality in the cells' migration paths. Implications of this finding for both experimental and clinical cancer research are discussed.