Mechanistic modeling of cancer tumor growth using a porous media approach

Mechanistic modeling of cancer tumor growth using a porous media approach Public Deposited

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Creator

Shelton, Sarah E.
- Affiliation: Gillings School of Global Public Health, Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering

Abstract

Cancer is a disease affecting millions of people each year; and researchers and clinicians are still looking for more effective ways to prevent, detect, and treat it. Recently, mathematical modeling has emerged as a way to understand the process of tumor growth. This work involves the development of a set of equations to mechanistically represent a tumor at the macroscale, using a porous media approach. Model components include 3 solid tissue phases (host, viable tumor, and necrotic tumor) and 2 fluid phases (blood and extracellular fluid) that supply the cellular phases with nutrients required for growth. Growth and death processes are represented by mass transfer terms which are dependent on local nutrient concentrations. Selected constitutive relations are discussed and the form of the model adheres to the thermodynamically constrained averaging theory approach.

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