Special Session 52: Differential Equations and Dynamical Systems in Mathematical Biology

Travelling Waves in a Mathematical Model for Oncolytic Virotherapy
Negar Mohammadnejad
University of Alberta
Canada
Co-Author(s):    Thomas Hillen
Abstract:
Oncolytic virotherapy (OVT) is a promising cancer treatment strategy in which engineered viruses selectively infect and destroy tumor cells. Motivated by the biological processes governing viral spread and tumor invasion, we study a non-cooperative reaction-diffusion model describing the spatial propagation of oncolytic viruses within tumor tissue. In this work, we establish the existence of positive travelling-wave solutions and identify a minimal wave speed $\bar{c}$ such that travelling waves exist for all speeds $c \ge \bar{c}$. The results provide a rigorous foundation for understanding the spatial dynamics of OVT and reveal parameter regimes where wave existence remains unresolved, pointing to new mathematical challenges in modeling viral spread in complex tumor environments.