CANCER EVOLUTION AS A COMPETITIVE PROCESS AMONG CELL SUBSPECIES

SILVIA A. MENCHÓN; CARLOS A. CONDAT

Rio de Janeiro (Brasil)

Workshop; Mathematical Methods and Modeling of Biophysical Phenomena; 2006

IMPA

We have developed simulational techniques to describe the influence of the competition among various cell subspecies on the evolution of tumors. Since acquired resistance is mediated by the emergence of favorable mutations, our procedure could be especially useful to model the effect of therapies. For this reason, we are particularly interested in interspecies competition close to latency. We will first present a single-species phase diagram that indicates the regions in parameter space corresponding to uncontrolled growth and latency and then explore how the emergence of a subspecies with competitive advantages modifies this diagram. We will also show results for the tumor gyration radius and the cell profiles, and describe how the location of a mutation can influence later growth.