A new model for tumor growth analysis based on a postulated inhibitory substance

✍ Scribed by Edwin B. Cox; Max A. Woodbury; Lawrence E. Myers

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1980
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 490 KB
• Volume: 13
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0010-4809
• DOI: 10.1016/0010-4809(80)90041-5

✦ Synopsis

The Gompertz equation has emerged as the most useful model for tumor growth analysis but lacks a demonstrable relationship between its parameters and biological growth regulatory mechanisms. A new model for tumor growth analysis is developed based upon a class of mechanisms considered most likely to be responsible for control of the growth of normal and neoplastic tissues. The resulting differential equation is not soluble in closed form for cell number as a function of time. A technique related to quasi linearization is developed to allow fitting the model to data and estimating the parameters from the dataset. A comparison is made on animal tumor data between the new model and the Gompertz model. The fit obtained with the new model appears at least as good, if not better, than the Gompertz. The ability to obtain parameter estimates relating to biologically important characteristics of the tumor with the new model more than offsets the more complex computations involved in fitting. This model is an attractive alternative to the Gompertz equation as the basis for analysis of tumor growth data.