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| A recent approach in cancer therapy is based on the role of tumor microenvironment in determining cancer malignancy. Hypoxia and acidity, for instance, are factors that can trigger the progression from benign to malignant growth. The low pH in the peritumoral region directly influences the metastatic potential of tumor cells by inducing apoptosis of normal cells. The macroscopic (population level) behavior of cancer cells is conditioned by and influences biochemical events on the intracellular level. Experiments suggest stochasticity in pH dynamics (production of protons and their in- and outward transport through the cell membrane); this refers to variations and uncertainties in the behaviour of each cell even though they all follow the same biochemical mechanisms.
We propose a multiscale model for acid-mediated tumor invasion, which connects the subcellular microscale with the processes on the macroscopic level and accounts for stochasticity in the proton dynamics on the microlevel. |
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