title: Reaction-diffusion model for the growth of avascular tumor.
abstract: A nutrient-limited model for avascular cancer growth including cell proliferation, motility, and death is presented. The model qualitatively reproduces commonly observed morphologies for primary tumors, and the simulated patterns are characterized by its gyration radius, total number of cancer cells, and number of cells on tumor periphery. These very distinct morphological patterns follow Gompertz growth curves, but exhibit different scaling laws for their surfaces. Also, the simulated tumors incorporate a spatial structure composed of a central necrotic core, an inner rim of quiescent cells and a narrow outer shell of proliferating cells in agreement with biological data. Finally, our results indicate that the competition for nutrients among normal and cancer cells may be a determining factor in generating papillary tumor morphology.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Física, Instituto de Ciências Exatas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Caixa Postal 702, 30161-970 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. silviojr@fisica.ufmg.br
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Vilela
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D016923:Cell Death; D002455:Cell Division; D002465:Cell Movement; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006133:Growth Substances / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D006133:Growth Substances