Feedback, lineages and cancer, John Lowengrub (University of California at Irvine)

Presentation given at the PASC14 conference, June 2-3, 2014 www.pasc14.org Feedback, lineages and cancer; John Lowengrub, University of California at Irvine, USA Most tissues are hierarchically organized into lineages. Tumors arise when the carefully regulated balance of cell proliferation and programmed cell death (apoptosis) that ordinarily exists in normal homeostatic tissues breaks down. Traditionally, cancer cells are assumed to acquire a common set of traits. However, not all proliferating cells in a tumor matter seem to matter equally and tumor cells apparently progress through lineage stages regulated by feedback. The reasons for this are still not well established. In this talk, we will present new mathematical models to simulate the spatiotemporal dynamics of cell lineages in solid tumors. We account for protein signaling factors produced by the cells and nutrients in the microenvironment. Our models demonstrate the development of heterogenous cell distributions and the formation of niche-like environments for stem cells. We demonstrate that feedback processes play a critical role in tumor initiation, progression, the development of morphological instability, and the response to treatment.