Review of Computational Systems Biology of Cancer

Abstract

The future of cancer research and the development of new therapeutic strategies rely on our ability to convert biological and clinical questions into mathematical models--integrating our knowledge of tumour progression mechanisms with the tsunami of information brought by high-throughput technologies such as microarrays and next-generation sequencing. Offering promising insights on how to defeat cancer, the emerging field of systems biology captures the complexity of biological phenomena using mathematical and computational tools. Introduction : why systems biology of cancer? -- Basic principles of the molecular biology of cancer -- Experimental high-throughput technologies for cancer research -- Bioinformatics tools and standards for systems biology -- Exploring the diversity of cancers -- Prognosis and prediction : towards individualised treatments -- Mathematical modelling applied to cancer cell biology -- Mathematical modelling of cancer hallmarks -- Cancer robustness : facts and hypotheses -- Cancer robustness : mathematical foundations -- Finding new cancer targets.