Understanding tumor growth and proliferation could help create personalized cancer treatment
Millions of breast cancer patients buy Tamoxifen to slow the progression of the disease.
Millions of breast cancer patients buy Tamoxifen to slow the progression of the disease. No matter what region of the body it affects, cancer is one of the deadliest and most prevalent conditions in the world. Recently, a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports proposed a mathematical model that could help scientists better understand and predict the development of a tumor from the earliest stages to metastasis.
Lead author Neil Johnson and his team from the University of Miami College of Arts and Sciences are hoping that the findings can help create highly personalized treatment strategies for individuals with the illness.
Johnson explained that the study unveils a hidden connection between the tumor and the surrounding vessels that feed it with nutrients, enabling it to flourish and potentially proliferate to other tissues.
"Cancer is a disease of many scales. There are the individual cells, the cells that group together to form the tumor, the vasculature and finally metastasis," Johnson stated. "By including information about how the tumor grows in response to its nutrients, and how the growth of the tumor feeds back the nutrient supply itself, our model moves us one step closer to predicting the future evolution of a patient's tumor."
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