Coming out of Latency: Subspecies Competition during Cancer Growth

S.A. MENCHÓN; C.A. CONDAT

San Carlos de Bariloche

Workshop; LAWNP 05; 2005

Effective anticancer therapies must be precisely targeted. Mutations are therefore a big obstacle in the way of defeating the disease, as attested by the development of acquired resistance to conventional therapy. Since in vivo studies of subspecies evolution are obviously difficult, it is useful to develop simulational techniques to explore the effect of mutations on cancer development. Here we present simulation results for the growth of competing subspecies; the problem is especially interesting if the genesis of the new subspecies rekindles growth starting from a latent or quasi-latent stage. We evaluate which locations in the primary tumour are advantageous for the emergence of a mutation and the geometric properties of the ensuing growth.