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| Interleukin-27 is an immunoregulatory cytokine from the Interleukin-12 family. In recent years, Interleukin-27 has been considered as a potential anti-tumor agent.
Recent experiments \textit{in vitro} and \textit{in vivo} have shown that cancer cells transfected with IL-27 activate CD8$^+$ T cells to promote the secretion of anti-tumor cytokines Interleukin-10, although, at the same time, IL-27 inhibits the secretion of Interferon-$\gamma$ by CD8$^+$ T cells.
We develop a mathematical model based on these experimental results. The model involves a dynamic network which includes tumor cells, CD8$^+$ T cells and cytokines Interleukin-27, Interleukin-10 and Interferon-$\gamma$.
Simulations of the model show how Interleukin-27 promotes CD8$^+$ T cells to secrete Interleukin-10 to inhibit tumor growth. On the other hand Interleukin-27 inhibits the secretion of Interferon-$\gamma$ by CD8$^+$ T cells which somewhat diminishes the inhibition of tumor growth. Our numerical results are in qualitative agreement with experimental data. We use the model to design protocols of IL-27 injections for the treatment of cancer and find that, for some special types of cancer, with a fixed total amount of drug, within a certain range, continuous injection has better efficacy than intermittent injections in reducing the tumor load while the treatment is ongoing. |
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