title: Optimal control in a model of dendritic cell transfection cancer immunotherapy.
abstract: We construct a population dynamics model of the competition among immune system cells and generic tumor cells. Then, we apply the theory of optimal control to find the optimal schedule of injection of autologous dendritic cells used as immunotherapeutic agent. The optimization method works for a general ODE system and can be applied to find the optimal schedule in a variety of medical treatments that have been described by a mathematical model.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Applicazioni del Calcolo (IAC) M. Picone, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Viale del Policlinico, 137-00161, Rome, Italy. f.castiglione@iac.cnr.it
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Castiglione
authors.forename: Benedetto
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Piccoli
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D017951:Antigen Presentation / Q000276:immunology; D000938:Antigen-Presenting Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000637:transplantation; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000637:transplantation*; D006801:Humans; D016233:Immunotherapy, Active / Q000379:methods*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D019496:Cancer Vaccines