Erik Blom: Towards clinically acceptable models and simulations of avascular tumor growth

Abstract:

Biological systems are remarkably interesting and accurate descriptions of these systems are necessary for useful and safe clinical applications. Computational modeling provides us with the tools for interpreting current biological understanding about these systems into precise and testable mathematical models, with the potential to refine how we think about the underlying mechanisms. Without 'Maxwell's or Navier Stokes equations of biology', the computational modeler must consider both modeling trade-offs and numerical techniques.

In this talk, we will investigate how these ideas apply to cancer biology, from the modeling of tumor growth curves to tumor cell population modeling; moreover, how can we achieve sufficiently accurate and clinically useful descriptions of these systems, using numerical methods and simulations? Specifically, we shall study a stochastic, cell-based model of avascular tumor growth and how it compares with its mean-field counterpart. We find insightful morphological model stability conditions and experience the utility of leaning against two similar models of different character in the analysis.