A mathematical model of tumour angiogenesis: growth, regression and regrowth

Cancerous tumours have the ability to recruit new blood vessels through a process called angiogenesis. By stimulating vascular growth, tumours get connected to the circulatory system, receive nutrients and open a way to colonize distant organs. Tumour-induced vascular networks become unstable in the...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Vilanova Caicoya, Guillermo|||0000-0002-9650-0602, Colominas Ezponda, Ignasi, Gómez, Héctor
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2017
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/359276
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/359276
https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2016.0918
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Numerical analysis--Simulation methods
Biomathematics
Angiogenesis
Capillary regression and regrowth
Mathematical modelling
Anàlisi numèrica
Biomatemàtica
Classificació AMS::65 Numerical analysis::65C Probabilistic methods, simulation and stochastic differential equations
Classificació AMS::92 Biology and other natural sciences::92B Mathematical biology in general
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Matemàtiques i estadística::Anàlisi numèrica
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Matemàtiques i estadística::Matemàtica aplicada a les ciències
Descripción
Sumario:Cancerous tumours have the ability to recruit new blood vessels through a process called angiogenesis. By stimulating vascular growth, tumours get connected to the circulatory system, receive nutrients and open a way to colonize distant organs. Tumour-induced vascular networks become unstable in the absence of tumour angiogenic factors (TAFs). They may undergo alternating stages of growth, regression and regrowth. Following a phase-field methodology, we propose a model of tumour angiogenesis that reproduces the aforementioned features and highlights the importance of vascular regression and regrowth. In contrast with previous theories which focus on vessel remodelling due to the absence of flow, we model an alternative regression mechanism based on the dependency of tumour-induced vascular networks on TAFs. The model captures capillaries at full scale, the plastic dynamics of tumour-induced vessel networks at long time scales, and shows the key role played by filopodia during angiogenesis. The predictions of our model are in agreement with in vivo experiments and may prove useful for the design of antiangiogenic therapies.