The Society for Mathematical Biology Annual Meeting and Conference, July 25-28, 2012
SMB 2012 Minisymposia
MS21: Mathematical models of stem-cell driven solid tumors - July 27, 9:40-11:20 a.m. SESSION G
Organizer: Heiko Enderling (Center of Cancer Systems Biology, Tufts Univ. School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA)
Presenters: Donghai Dai, Xuefeng Gao, Ignacio Rodriguez-Brenes, Jacob Scott
Summary. Whilst the operational definition of cancer stem cells is widely accepted, their dynamic interactions with each other and their non-stem cancer cell counterparts are still poorly understood. Based on clinical data and plausible biological assumptions, mathematical models can help shed light on some of the underlying mechanisms in stem-cell driven solid tumor progression. In this minisymposium we bring together mathematicians and clinicians to discuss recent advantages in modeling stem cells, cancer stem cells and tumor dynamics. We will discuss development of normal stem cells into cancer stem cells, the role of cancer stem cells in tumor growth an progression, and finally the contribution of cancer stem cells to treatment failure and disease recurrence.
