Self-organization and competition in the immune response to cancer invasion: A phase-orientated computational model of oncogenesis

Abstract

Motivation: Recent studies indicate that fractal dimensions can uncover aspects of cellular dynamics prior to pathological manifestation. In this respect we are interested in building a computational model of oncogenesis able to generate patterns with the same fractal dimension spectrum as the in vivo tumor. Results: A new theoretical model incorporating a systemic view of oncogenesis in a computational model was proposed. The tumor growth is viewed as competition for resources between the two self-organizing subsystems: the neoplastic and the immune. Numerical simulations revealed that tumor escape can be uncovered in some earlier stage of the immune-system-tumor interaction using multifractal measures. The described computational model is able to simulate also the case of immune, surgical, chemical and radiotherapeutical treatment, as well as their effects. Availability: The software used is available on request from the authors. Contact: Sorinel Oprisan, University of New Orleans, Department of Psychology, New Orleans, LA 70148, USA. soprisan@uno.edu.