Boston scientists have developed a computer model for cancer patients that can predict how a tumor would evolve in the patient. This will be useful in efficient treatments for those diagnosed with cancer.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's researchers developed the mathematical model to predict the tumor evolution. "This approach is key to improve the design of cancer therapies," said lead study author Kornelia Polyak.
The researchers developed the model after combining various data of pre-and post-treatment biopsies of breast tumors to get an idea of how the tumors responded and evolved after chemotherapy, the authors stated in a press release.
"Better understanding of tumor evolution is the key to improving the design of cancer therapies and for truly individualized cancer treatment," said Polyak explained.
The researchers examined the breast cancer samples from 47 patients who underwent pre-operative chemotherapy and even after the tumor shrank.
The computer model gave some general findings. The genetic diversity within a tumor, like differences in how many copies of a DNA segment were present, did not modify much in cancers that had no response or only a partial response to treatment.
In the second result, the researchers found tumors with less genetic diversity among their cells increasingly responded to the treatment. "In general, high genetic diversity is not a good thing," commented Polyak. "The results show that higher diversity is making you less likely to respond to treatment."
The scientists incorporated the data on the genetic and other traits of large number of individual cells within the tumor sample along with maps of cell locations in the tumors. "We could predict which tumour cells would likely be eliminated or slowed down by treatment, and how this may change the tumour overall," said Polyak.
