| Abstract: |
| Traditional continuous hormonal therapy for metastatic prostate cancer is often ineffective because it unintentionally favors drug-resistant cells by eliminating their drug-sensitive competitors. To address this issue, intermittent therapy, which involves cyclic periods of drug dosing and withdrawal, is used. This approach preserves the population of drug-sensitive cells, which, by competing for shared resources, suppress the proliferation of resistant strains. In this study, we formulate and analyze an optimal control problem using the Lotka-Volterra competition model. The model includes a control function for regulating transitions between therapeutic stages to determine an optimal solution that reproduces the effectiveness of intermittent regimens in balancing cancer cell dynamics. Optimal prostate cancer treatment protocols are derived and their application in real-world clinical practice is discussed. |
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