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A Hybrid Multiscale Approach in Cancer Modelling and Treatment Prediction

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Mathematical Oncology 2013

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Abstract

Cancer is a complex multiscale disease involving inter-related processes across a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. Multiscale mathematical models can help in studying cancer progression and serve as an in silico test base for comparing and optimizing various multi-modality anticancer treatment protocols. Here, we discuss one such hybrid multiscale approach, interlinking individual cell behavior with the macroscopic tissue scale. Using this technique, we study the spatio-temporal dynamics of individual cells and their interactions with the tumor microenvironment. At the intracellular level, the internal cell-cycle mechanism is modelled using a system of coupled ordinary differential equations, which determine cellular growth dynamics for each individual cell. The evolution of these individual cancer cells are modelled using a cellular automaton approach. Moreover, we have also incorporated the effects of oxygen distribution into this multiscale model as it has been shown to affect the internal cell-cycle dynamics of the cancer cells. The hybrid multiscale model is then used to study the effects of cell-cycle-specific chemotherapeutic drugs, alone and in combination with radiotherapy, with a long-term goal of predicting an optimal multimodality treatment plan for individual patients.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the ERC Advanced Investigator Grant 227619, M5CGS - From Mutations to Metastases: Multiscale Mathematical Modelling of Cancer Growth and Spread.

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  1. Division of Mathematics, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, DD1 4HN, UK

    Gibin Powathil & Mark A. J. Chaplain

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  1. Gibin Powathil
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Correspondence to Mark A. J. Chaplain .

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  1. International Prevention Research Institute, Lyon, France

    Alberto d'Onofrio

  2. Istituto di Analisi dei Sistemi ed Informatica "Antonio Ruberti"—CNR, Rome, Italy

    Alberto Gandolfi

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Powathil, G., Chaplain, M.A.J. (2014). A Hybrid Multiscale Approach in Cancer Modelling and Treatment Prediction. In: d'Onofrio, A., Gandolfi, A. (eds) Mathematical Oncology 2013. Modeling and Simulation in Science, Engineering and Technology. Birkhäuser, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0458-7_8

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