Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 20, 2026

Generation of Heterogeneous Drug Gradients Across Cancer Populations on a Microfluidic Evolution Accelerator for Real-Time Observation
Published on: September 19, 2019
Mathematical model of heterogeneous cancer growth with an autocrine signalling pathway
1Physics Department, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. pipipshu@gmail.com
Objectives:
Cancer is a complex biological occurrence which is difficult to describe clearly and explain its growth development. As such, novel concepts, such as of heterogeneity and signalling pathways, grow exponentially and many mathematical models accommodating the latest knowledge have been proposed. Here, we present a simple mathematical model that exhibits many characteristics of experimental data, using prostate carcinoma cell spheroids under treatment.
Materials And Methods:
We have modelled cancer as a two-subpopulation system, with one subpopulation representing a cancer stem cell state, and the other a normal cancer cell state. As a first approximation, these follow a logistical growth model with self and competing capacities, but they can transform into each other by using an autocrine signalling pathway.
Results And Conclusion:
By analysing regulation behaviour of each of the system parameters, we show that the model exhibits many characteristics of actual cancer growth curves. Features reproduced in this model include delayed phase of evolving cancer under 17AAG treatment, and bi-stable behaviour under treatment by irradiation. In addition, our interpretation of the system parameters corresponds well with known facts involving 17AAG treatment. This model may thus provide insight into some of the mechanisms behind cancer.
Related Concept Videos
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
Autocrine Signaling
Autocrine Signaling in Macrophages
Under normal physiological conditions, autocrine signaling is essential for maintaining homeostasis. This process is well characterized in...
Autocrine Signaling
Autocrine Signaling in Macrophages
Under normal physiological conditions, autocrine signaling is essential for maintaining homeostasis. This process is well characterized in...
Interactions Between Signaling Pathways
Convergence and divergence, and cross-talk between signaling pathways
Two distinct signaling pathways can converge on a single functional unit, which may either be a single protein or a complex of proteins. The response is either functionally distinct or synergistic between the two pathways but different from the response...
Cancer

