Numerical Simulation of Avascular Tumor Growth

D FERNÁNDEZ SLEZAK, C SUÁREZ, A SOBA, M RISK AND G MARSHALL

Journal of Physics: Conference Series

Institute of Physics

Lugar: Gran Bretana; Año: 2007 vol. 90 p. 1 - 6

1742-6588

A mathematical and numerical model for the description of different aspects ofmicrotumor development is presented. The model is based in the solution of a system of partialdifferential equations describing an avascular tumor growth. A detailed second-order numericalgorithm for solving this system is described. Parameters are swiped to cover a range offeasible physiological values. While previous published works used a single set of parametersvalues, here we present a wide range of feasible solutions for tumor growth, covering a morerealistic scenario. The model is validated by experimental data obtained with a multicellularspheroid model, a speci• c type of in vitro biological model which is at present considered to beoptimum for the study of complex aspects of avascular microtumor physiology. Moreover, adynamical analysis and local behaviour of the system is presented, showing chaotic situationsfor particular sets of parameter values at some • xed points. Further biological experimentsrelated to those speci• c points may give potentially interesting results.