Abstract
Current biological knowledge supports the existence of a secondary group
of cancer cells within the body of the tumour that exhibits stem
cell-like properties. These cells are termed Cancer Stem Cells (CSCs},
and as opposed to the more usual Differentiated Cancer Cells (DCCs),
they exhibit higher motility, they are more resilient to therapy, and
are able to metastasize to secondary locations within the organism and
produce new tumours. The origin of the CSCs is not completely clear;
they seem to stem from the DCCs via a transition process related to the
Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) that can also be found in normal
tissue. In the current work we model and numerically study the
transition between these two types of cancer cells, and the resulting
"ensemble" invasion of the extracellular matrix. This leads to the
derivation and numerical simulation of two systems: an
algebraic-elliptic system for the transition and an
advection-reaction-diffusion system of Keller-Segel taxis type for the
invasion.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Bulletin of the Brazilian Mathematical Society, New Series |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 May 2015 |
Keywords
- Quantitative Biology - Cell Behavior
- Mathematics - Numerical Analysis
- Quantitative Biology - Tissues and Organs
