An age-dependent stochastic model for carcinogenesis

An age-dependent two stage model for carcinogenesis is proposed. Explicit expressions for the expected number of normal, intermediate, and malignant cells for a specific form of age-dependent birth rate and constant death rate are obtained, and methods of obtaining the second moments of the different types of cells are indicated. Upper bounds for the hazard functions are arrived at for both one mutation and two mutation models. A brief discussion comparing the results of an earlier model of Moolgavkar and Venzon is also provided