A Survey of Models for Tumor-Immune System Dynamics


Book Description

Mathematical Modeling and Immunology An enormous amount of human effort and economic resources has been directed in this century to the fight against cancer. The purpose, of course, has been to find strategies to overcome this hard, challenging and seemingly endless struggle. We can readily imagine that even greater efforts will be required in the next century. The hope is that ultimately humanity will be successful; success will have been achieved when it is possible to activate and control the immune system in its competition against neoplastic cells. Dealing with the above-mentioned problem requires the fullest pos sible cooperation among scientists working in different fields: biology, im munology, medicine, physics and, we believe, mathematics. Certainly, bi ologists and immunologists will make the greatest contribution to the re search. However, it is now increasingly recognized that mathematics and computer science may well able to make major contributions to such prob lems. We cannot expect mathematicians alone to solve fundamental prob lems in immunology and (in particular) cancer research, but valuable sup port, however modest, can be provided by mathematicians to the research aspirations of biologists and immunologists working in this field.




Cancer Modelling and Simulation


Book Description

Understanding how cancer tumours develop and spread is vital for finding treatments and cures. Cancer Modelling and Simulation demonstrates how mathematical modelling and computer simulation techniques are used to discover and gain insight into the dynamics of tumour development and growth. It highlights the benefits of tumour modelling, such as discovering optimal tumour therapy schedules, identifying the most promising candidates for further clinical investigation, and reducing the number of animal experiments. By examining the analytical, mathematical, and biological aspects of tumour growth and modelling, the book provides a common language and knowledge for professionals in several disciplines.




Multiscale Cancer Modeling


Book Description

Cancer is a complex disease process that spans multiple scales in space and time. Driven by cutting-edge mathematical and computational techniques, in silico biology provides powerful tools to investigate the mechanistic relationships of genes, cells, and tissues. It enables the creation of experimentally testable hypotheses, the integration of dat




Understanding Complex Biological Systems with Mathematics


Book Description

This volume examines a variety of biological and medical problems using mathematical models to understand complex system dynamics. Featured topics include autism spectrum disorder, ectoparasites and allogrooming, argasid ticks dynamics, super-fast nematocyst firing, cancer-immune population dynamics, and the spread of disease through populations. Applications are investigated with mathematical models using a variety of techniques in ordinary and partial differential equations, difference equations, Markov-chain models, Monte-Carlo simulations, network theory, image analysis, and immersed boundary method. Each article offers a thorough explanation of the methodologies used and numerous tables and color illustrations to explain key results. This volume is suitable for graduate students and researchers interested in current applications of mathematical models in the biosciences. The research featured in this volume began among newly-formed collaborative groups at the 2017 Women Advancing Mathematical Biology Workshop that took place at the Mathematical Biosciences Institute in Columbus, Ohio. The groups spent one intensive week working at MBI and continued their collaborations after the workshop, resulting in the work presented in this volume.




Selected Topics in Cancer Modeling


Book Description

This collection of selected chapters offers a comprehensive overview of state-of-the-art mathematical methods and tools for modeling and analyzing cancer phenomena. Topics covered include stochastic evolutionary models of cancer initiation and progression, tumor cords and their response to anticancer agents, and immune competition in tumor progression and prevention. The complexity of modeling living matter requires the development of new mathematical methods and ideas. This volume, written by first-rate researchers in the field of mathematical biology, is one of the first steps in that direction.




Mathematical Oncology 2013


Book Description

With chapters on free boundaries, constitutive equations, stochastic dynamics, nonlinear diffusion–consumption, structured populations, and applications of optimal control theory, this volume presents the most significant recent results in the field of mathematical oncology. It highlights the work of world-class research teams, and explores how different researchers approach the same problem in various ways. Tumors are complex entities that present numerous challenges to the mathematical modeler. First and foremost, they grow. Thus their spatial mean field description involves a free boundary problem. Second, their interiors should be modeled as nontrivial porous media using constitutive equations. Third, at the end of anti-cancer therapy, a small number of malignant cells remain, making the post-treatment dynamics inherently stochastic. Fourth, the growth parameters of macroscopic tumors are non-constant, as are the parameters of anti-tumor therapies. Changes in these parameters may induce phenomena that are mathematically equivalent to phase transitions. Fifth, tumor vascular growth is random and self-similar. Finally, the drugs used in chemotherapy diffuse and are taken up by the cells in nonlinear ways. Mathematical Oncology 2013 will appeal to graduate students and researchers in biomathematics, computational and theoretical biology, biophysics, and bioengineering.




Mathematical Models of Tumor-Immune System Dynamics


Book Description

This collection of papers offers a broad synopsis of state-of-the-art mathematical methods used in modeling the interaction between tumors and the immune system. These papers were presented at the four-day workshop on Mathematical Models of Tumor-Immune System Dynamics held in Sydney, Australia from January 7th to January 10th, 2013. The workshop brought together applied mathematicians, biologists, and clinicians actively working in the field of cancer immunology to share their current research and to increase awareness of the innovative mathematical tools that are applicable to the growing field of cancer immunology. Recent progress in cancer immunology and advances in immunotherapy suggest that the immune system plays a fundamental role in host defense against tumors and could be utilized to prevent or cure cancer. Although theoretical and experimental studies of tumor-immune system dynamics have a long history, there are still many unanswered questions about the mechanisms that govern the interaction between the immune system and a growing tumor. The multidimensional nature of these complex interactions requires a cross-disciplinary approach to capture more realistic dynamics of the essential biology. The papers presented in this volume explore these issues and the results will be of interest to graduate students and researchers in a variety of fields within mathematical and biological sciences.




Mathematical Modelling in Biomedicine


Book Description

Mathematical modelling in biomedicine is a rapidly developing scientific discipline at the intersection of medicine, biology, mathematics, physics, and computer science. Its progress is stimulated by fundamental scientific questions and by the applications to public health. This book represents a collection of papers devoted to mathematical modelling of various physiological problems in normal and pathological conditions. It covers a broad range of topics including cardiovascular system and diseases, heart and brain modelling, tumor growth, viral infections, and immune response. Computational models of blood circulation are used to study the influence of heart arrhythmias on coronary blood flow and on operating modes for left-ventricle-assisted devices. Wave propagation in the cardiac tissue is investigated in order to show the influence of tissue heterogeneity and fibrosis. The models of tumor growth are used to determine optimal protocols of antiangiogenic and radiotherapy. The models of viral hepatitis kinetics are considered for the parameter identification, and the evolution of viral quasi-species is investigated. The book presents the state-of-the-art in mathematical modelling in biomedicine and opens new perspectives in this passionate field of research.




Modelling Mathematical Methods and Scientific Computation


Book Description

Addressed to engineers, scientists, and applied mathematicians, this book explores the fundamental aspects of mathematical modelling in applied sciences and related mathematical and computational methods. After providing the general framework needed for mathematical modelling-definitions, classifications, general modelling procedures, and validation methods-the authors deal with the analysis of discrete models. This includes modelling methods and related mathematical methods. The analysis of models is defined in terms of ordinary differential equations. The analysis of continuous models, particularly models defined in terms of partial differential equations, follows. The authors then examine inverse type problems and stochastic modelling. Three appendices provide a concise guide to functional analysis, approximation theory, and probability, and a diskette included with the book includes ten scientific programs to introduce the reader to scientific computation at a practical level.




Computational Biology Of Cancer: Lecture Notes And Mathematical Modeling


Book Description

The book shows how mathematical and computational models can be used to study cancer biology. It introduces the concept of mathematical modeling and then applies it to a variety of topics in cancer biology. These include aspects of cancer initiation and progression, such as the somatic evolution of cells, genetic instability, and angiogenesis. The book also discusses the use of mathematical models for the analysis of therapeutic approaches such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and the use of oncolytic viruses.