Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
6.2
SPATIAL DYNAMICS IN CANCER
Ricard V. Solé
ICREA-Complex Systems Laboratory, Universitat Pompeu Fabra,
Barcelona, Spain, and The Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Isabel González García and José Costa
Department of Pathology, Yale University School of Medicine,
and Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center, New Haven, Connecticut
The relevance of spatial constraints to cancer growth and development are explored by
means of simple models. It is shown that the explicit introduction of space into the pic-
ture allows the observation of new phenomena, such as the coexistence in time of differ-
ent cells populations that would exclude each other without the presence of local
interactions. The implications for our understanding of cancer and its possible treatments
are discussed.
1.
INTRODUCTION
Cancer can be defined as a semiautonomous growth of tissue that spreads to
eventually compromise the vital functions of the host. Cancer is estimated to be
responsible for seven million deaths worldwide yearly and is the second leading
cause of mortality in the United States, where just over half a million new cases
are registered each year. The epidemiological projections indicate that lifelong
cumulative risk for an individual is one of every two males and one of every
three females (1). Sustained improvements in prevention, early diagnosis,
and therapy have resulted in a constant decrease of the absolute overall cancer
Address correspondence to: Ricard V. Solé, ICREA Complex Systems Laboratory, Universitat
Pompeu Fabra, Dr Aiguader 80, 08003 Barcelona, Spain (ricard.sole@upf.edu).
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