In 2024, malignant tumors caused more than 21,300 deaths in Austria, 4.7% more than in 2014. Faced with a similarly pressing global challenge, scientists are striving to better understand what drives cancer cells to grow, spread, and invade healthy tissue. In Science Advances, a team at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) now offers new clues: Using a simplified model, the researchers show how a chaotic environment around tumor cells can promote their invasive behavior. This theoretical concept will need to be examined further in real tumor tissue.