Modeling Heterogeneous Tumor Growth Using Hybrid Cellular Automata

We show that heterogeneity of cells that compose a tumor leads to its irregular growth. We model avascular tumor growth using cellular automata (CA). In our model, we take into account the composition of cells and intercellular adhesion in addition to processes involved in cell cycle-proliferation, quiescence, apoptosis and necrosis. More importantly, we consider cell mutation that gives rise to a different phenotype and therefore, a tumor with heterogeneous population of cells. A new phenotype is probabilistically chosen and has the ability to survive at lower levels of nutrient concentration and reproduce faster. We solve diffusion equation using central difference method to determine the concentration of nutrients, in particular, oxygen available to each cell during the growth process. We present the growth simulation and demonstrate similarity with theoretical findings.