A Simulation of Tumor Growth Dynamics

Tumor growth can be highly unpredictable and many factors may impact its development. Mathematical models and simulations can help to give medical professionals more information about tumor dynamics. Many models have been used to analyze tumor growth. The model developed in this paper will be based on a model developed by DePillis and will include several enhancements. Several factors may impact tumor growth and this paper will expand on the DePillis model by exploring the effects of secretion of chemokines, cell-cell adhesion, Cellular FLICE-like inhibitory protein (cFLIP) mutation and will observe a natural lifespan of immune cells. An efficient method of solving partial differential equations required for this model will also be developed. The results show that in a dendritic tumor with no cellcell adhesion that a tumor with a high rate of cFLIP mutation will mimic the behavior of a tumor in the presence of no immune action. A tumor exhibiting cell-cell adhesion will demonstrate a circular morphology and is less affected by cFLIP mutation than that of a dendritic tumor. However it does produce a significant increase in the growth rate of a tumor exhibiting cFLIP mutation than that of a tumor with no mutation