In silico modeling of multicellular spheroids

FERNÁNDEZ-SLEZAK DIEGO; SUÁREZ CECILIA; MARSHALL GUILLERMO

Santiago de Cuba

Conferencia; III Evento Internacional de Electromagnetismo Aplicado CNEA; 2009

Comisión Nacional de Electromagnetismo Aplicado (CNEA)

The multicellular spheroid model is considered to be a good in vitro model to study complex aspects of tumor physiology, particularly those related to therapeutic strategies that cannot be adequately accounted for by other simpler models. In this work we present a mathematical model for the description of different aspects of spheroid evolution, based on the solution of a system of partial differential equations describing the growth of an avascular tumor. While previous publications used a single set of parameter values, here we show that the tumor growth data is consistent with a wide range of feasible parameter values highlighting the usually neglected question of parameter choice in biological modeling. Parameters are studied and swept to cover a range of feasible physiological values. The model is validated by experimental data obtained with a LM3 multicellular spheroid model. The next step of our model is the inclusion of an electric field for the simulation of the electrochemical treatment of tumors (EChT) and the tumor treating fields (TTFs) therapies.