title: Spatial Moran models, II: cancer initiation in spatially structured tissue.
abstract: We study the accumulation and spread of advantageous mutations in a spatial stochastic model of cancer initiation on a lattice. The parameters of this general model can be tuned to study a variety of cancer types and genetic progression pathways. This investigation contributes to an understanding of how the selective advantage of cancer cells together with the rates of mutations driving cancer, impact the process and timing of carcinogenesis. These results can be used to give insights into tumor heterogeneity and the "cancer field effect," the observation that a malignancy is often surrounded by cells that have undergone premalignant transformation.
authors.affiliation: Deptartment of Mathematics, Duke University, Box. 90320, Durham, NC, 27708-0320, USA. rtd@math.duke.edu.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Durrett
authors.affiliation: Deptartment of Mathematics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA. jyfoo@umn.edu.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Foo
authors.affiliation: Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA. kevin.leder@isye.umn.edu.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Leder
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D055641:Mathematical Concepts; D008954:Models, Biological; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009154:Mutation; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D013269:Stochastic Processes; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Asymptotics for waiting times; Biased voter model; Cancer field effect; Shape theorem