A continuum description of vascular tumor growth
Anna Claudia M. Resende1; Regina C. Almeida1; Ernesto A. B. F. Lima2; Brendon J. Rodrigues1
1 Laboratório Nacional de Computação Científica; 2 Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences
doi:10.20906/CPS/CILAMCE2017-0360
Resumo
Angiogenesis, the creation of new blood vessels, is a key mechanism of carcinogenesis. During the early stages of a tumor progression, called avascular phase, highly proliferative cancer cells quickly exhausts nutrient availability in the microenvironment, eventually leading to growth arrest. Nutrient stress gives rise to hypoxic cells that, to overcome nutrient depletion, secrete tumor angiogenic factors, which ultimately induce the growth of new blood vessels. The new vascular network not only resumes tumor growth but also provides unbound conditions to sustain tumor progression, switching tumors to the more aggressive vascular phase. In this work we model this phenomenon using mass conservation principles. We build a vascular model in a highly heterogeneous microenvironment, including tumor and healthy cells competition and their interplay with extracellular matrix. A sensitivity analysis performed in the model indicates that the competition for space and resources, and the creation of new blood vessels have significant impact on the tumor evolution.
Palavras-chave: Mathematical Model; Tumor Growth; Angiogenesis