Mathematical modelling in the scheduling of cancer chemotherapy treatment when drug resistance is present.

Chemotherapeutic agents when employed in the fight against cancer often yield a sub-optimal outcome due to the development of drug resistance. Some biological background to the problem of cancer and its treatment is given in Chapters 1 to 3 and some relevant existing mathematical models are described in Chapter 4. In order to predict tumour response to chemotherapy in the presence of drug resistance a mathematical model is developed and analysed in Chapter 6 which incorporates mechanisms for tumour growth, cell kill due to the administration of chemotherapy, drug resistance, increased drug sensitivity and the effect of tumour cells competing for nutrients. The framework of tumour growth parameters detailed in Chapter 5 enables quantitative simulations to be carried out where appropriate thus maximising the usefulness of the analysis for oncologists. The results from this competition model are compared with the analyses of other authors and a variety of implications are subsequently produced which are clinically significant. The results from Chapter 6 provide insight into the effective treatment of cancer utilising chemotherapeutic agents in the presence of drug resistance. There is a requirement for a system which allows oncologists to design novel chemotherapeutic regimens and simulate the associated tumour response without explicit consideration of an underlying mathematical model. The Oncologists Workbench introduced in Chapter 7 for single agent regimens and developed in Chapter 8 for two drug regimens is a prototype which has been developed to satisfy such requirements. A technique for calibrating the models to produce clinically realistic results is introduced in Chapter 7 which considers the potency of each drug and known trial results. Simulations are carried out which illustrate the usefulness of the Workbench and the issues associated with this calibration process. The development of the Oncologists Workbench is part of an ongoing collaboration between oncologists, mathematicians and computer scientists wishing to provide a tool which will ultimately lead to the improvement of cancer chemotherapy.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Robert Gordon University

Year dc:date.issued

1997

Author dc:creator

• Henderson, Dean

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• J. Usher

• Mathematical modelling
• Chemotherapy
• Drug resistance
• Tumour response
• Drug sensitivity

Language dc:language

en

Identifier

oai:rgu-repository.worktribe.com:2807407
https://doi.org/10.48526/rgu-wt-2807407

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:rgu-repository.worktribe.com:2807407