Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 15, 2026

Microfluidic Co-Culture Models for Dissecting the Immune Response in in vitro Tumor Microenvironments
Published on: April 30, 2021
Interactions between the immune system and cancer: a brief review of non-spatial mathematical models
Raluca Eftimie1, Jonathan L Bramson, David J D Earn
1Department of Mathematics and Statistic, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada, L8S 4K1. reftimie@math.mcmaster.ca
Abstract:
We briefly review spatially homogeneous mechanistic mathematical models describing the interactions between a malignant tumor and the immune system. We begin with the simplest (single equation) models for tumor growth and proceed to consider greater immunological detail (and correspondingly more equations) in steps. This approach allows us to clarify the necessity for expanding the complexity of models in order to capture the biological mechanisms we wish to understand. We conclude by discussing some unsolved problems in the mathematical modeling of cancer-immune system interactions.
Related Concept Videos
Tumor Immunotherapy
Mouse Models of Cancer Study
The development of transgenic, knockout, and knock-in mice has led to an exponential increase in their use as model organisms in research,...
Mouse Models of Cancer Study
The development of transgenic, knockout, and knock-in mice has led to an exponential increase in their use as model organisms in research,...
Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
The Tumor Microenvironment

