Mathematical Model of Cancer Treatment with Virotherapy and Immune System

The global burden of cancer is rising, causing significant strain on individuals, families, and healthcare systems. Traditional treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation, are effective but harm healthy cells and lead to side effects. In contrast, virotherapy specifically targets cancer cells, leaving healthy cells unharmed. This study presents a mathematical model of cancer treatment with viral therapy and the immune system. We show the non-negative and boundedness of the model's solution. Our findings identify five equilibrium points: free equilibrium point, two immune response-free equilibrium points, and two coexisting equilibrium points. The local and global stability of the equilibrium point is established. We show the tumor size reduction from 0.55 to 0.05 as an increase in the burst size from 0.8 to 9.0, respectively. We also explore that the proposed methodology reduces tumor size from 0.59 to 0.21 as the stimulation rate of immune response increases from 0.29 to 0.90. Thus, numerical simulations indicate that high immune response and viruses reduce tumor size. This study emphasizes the effectiveness of combining viral therapy with high immune responses in cancer patients. This study is helpful for oncologists and immunologists to understand the behavior of virotherapy and immune response to control the proliferation of different kinds of tumors.