Cancer stem cell modeling using a cellular automaton

Abstract

We used a cellular automaton model for cancer growth simulation at cellular level, based on the presence of different cancer hallmarks acquired by the cells. The rules of the cellular automaton determine cell mitotic and apoptotic behaviors, which are based on the acquisition of the hallmarks in the cells by means of mutations. The simulation tool allows the study of the emergent behavior of tumor growth. This work focuses on the simulation of the behavior of cancer stem cells to inspect their capability of regeneration of tumor growth in different scenarios. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.