Related papers: Critically assessing atavism, an evolution-centere…
A tumor can be thought of as an ecosystem, which critically means that we cannot just consider it as a collection of mutated cells but more as a complex system of many interacting cellular and microenvironmental elements. At its simplest, a…
We propose a one mutation model for cancer with a mutation rate that increases with time. Under rather general hypotheses the number of mutations is necessarily a (non homogeneous) Poisson process with the prescribed mutation rate. We show…
Although somatic mutations are the main contributor to cancer, underlying germline alterations may increase the risk of cancer, mold the somatic alteration landscape and cooperate with acquired mutations to promote the tumor onset and/or…
The US and Hungarian statistical records of the years 1900 and 1896, respectively, before the dramatic medical advances, show 32% and 27% deaths attributable to infections, whereas only 5% and 2% due to cancer. These data can be interpreted…
Drug resistance and metastasis - the major complications in cancer - both entail adaptation of cancer cells to stress, whether a drug or a lethal new environment. Intriguingly, these adaptive processes share similar features that cannot be…
Tumor recurrence, driven by the evolution of drug resistance is a major barrier to therapeutic success in cancer. Resistance is often caused by genetic alterations such as point mutation, which refers to the modification of a single genomic…
Acidosis in tumors arises from reprogrammed metabolism and compromised vasculature, creating a harsh, acidic microenvironment that drives the evolutionary selection of acid-resistant cell phenotypes. A mathematical model is proposed to…
Cancer is a disease of cellular regulation, often initiated by genetic mutation within cells, and leading to a heterogeneous cell population within tissues. In the competition for nutrients and growth space within the tumors the phenotype…
A small portion of a tissue defines a microstate in gene expression space. Mutations, epigenetic events or external factors cause microstate displacements which are modeled by combining small independent gene expression variations and large…
Motivation: Epigenetic heterogeneity within a tumour can play an important role in tumour evolution and the emergence of resistance to treatment. It is increasingly recognised that the study of DNA methylation (DNAm) patterns along the…
In this survey article, a variety of systems modeling tumor growth are discussed. In accordance with the hallmarks of cancer, the described models incorporate the primary characteristics of cancer evolution. Specifically, we focus on…
Cancer is a complex disease driven by dynamic regulatory shifts that cannot be fully captured by individual molecular profiling. We employ a data-driven approach to construct a coarse-grained dynamic network model based on hallmark…
Cancer, as the uncontrollable cell growth, is related to many branches of biology. In this review, we will discuss three mathematical approaches for studying cancer biology: population dynamics, gene regulation, and developmental biology.…
Due to over-metabolism, the tumour cells become hypoxic. To overcome this situation tumour cells secret several chemical substrates to attract nearby blood vessels towards it (angiogenesis). Transition from avascular to vascular tumour is…
Tumor development is an evolutionary process in which a heterogeneous population of cells with differential growth capabilities compete for resources in order to gain a proliferative advantage. What are the minimal ingredients needed to…
Research into somatic mutations in cancer cell DNA and their role in tumour growth and progression between successive stages is crucial for improving our understanding of cancer evolution. Mathematical and computer modelling can provide…
Genomic alterations lead to cancer complexity and form a major hurdle for a comprehensive understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying oncogenesis. In this review, we describe the recent advances in studying cancer-associated genes…
In cancer research, the term epigenetics was used in the 1970s in its modern sense encompassing non-genetic events modifying the chromatin state, mainly to oppose the emerging oncogene paradigm. However, starting from the establishment of…
Tumour cells have to acquire a number of capabilities if a neoplasm is to become a cancer. One of these key capabilities is increased motility which is needed for invasion of other tissues and metastasis. This paper presents a qualitative…
As cancer advances, cells often spread from the primary tumor to other parts of the body and form metastases. This is the main cause of cancer related mortality. Here we investigate a conceptually simple model of metastasis formation where…