TY - JOUR
T1 - Mathematical oncology
T2 - How are the mathematical and physical sciences contributing to the war on breast cancer?
AU - Chauviere, Arnaud H.
AU - Hatzikirou, Haralampos
AU - Lowengrub, John S.
AU - Frieboes, Hermann B.
AU - Thompson, Alastair M.
AU - Cristini, Vittorio
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgment The authors thank Y-L Chuang and P. Macklin for constructive discussions and suggestions regarding the manuscript. JL acknowledges partial support from the National Institutes of Health through grant P50GM76516, for a Centre of Excellence in Systems Biology at the University of California, Irvine and grant 1RC2CA148493-01, as well as the National Science Foundation Division of Mathematical Sciences. VC acknowledges support from The Cullen Trust for Health Care, the National Science Foundation, Division of Mathematical Sciences through grant DMS-0818104 and the National Institutes of Health through grants: 1U54CA143837-01, for Multiscale Complex Systems Transdisciplinary Analysis of Response to Therapy (MC-START), and 1U54CA143907-01, for the Center for Transport Oncophysics.
PY - 2010/9
Y1 - 2010/9
N2 - Mathematical modeling has recently been added as a tool in the fight against cancer. The field of mathematical oncology has received great attention and increased enormously, but over-optimistic estimations about its ability have created unrealistic expectations. We present a critical appraisal of the current state of mathematical models of cancer. Although the field is still expanding and useful clinical applications may occur in the future, managing over-expectation requires the proposal of alternative directions for mathematical modeling. Here, we propose two main avenues for this modeling: 1) the identification of the elementary biophysical laws of cancer development, and 2) the development of a multiscale mathematical theory as the framework for models predictive of tumor growth. Finally, we suggest how these new directions could contribute to addressing the current challenges of understanding breast cancer growth and metastasis.
AB - Mathematical modeling has recently been added as a tool in the fight against cancer. The field of mathematical oncology has received great attention and increased enormously, but over-optimistic estimations about its ability have created unrealistic expectations. We present a critical appraisal of the current state of mathematical models of cancer. Although the field is still expanding and useful clinical applications may occur in the future, managing over-expectation requires the proposal of alternative directions for mathematical modeling. Here, we propose two main avenues for this modeling: 1) the identification of the elementary biophysical laws of cancer development, and 2) the development of a multiscale mathematical theory as the framework for models predictive of tumor growth. Finally, we suggest how these new directions could contribute to addressing the current challenges of understanding breast cancer growth and metastasis.
KW - Breast cancer
KW - Mathematics
KW - Modeling
KW - Multiscale
KW - Oncology
KW - Physics
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U2 - 10.1007/s12609-010-0020-6
DO - 10.1007/s12609-010-0020-6
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:77955559768
SN - 1943-4588
VL - 2
SP - 121
EP - 129
JO - Current Breast Cancer Reports
JF - Current Breast Cancer Reports
IS - 3
ER -