Predicting drug pharmacokinetics and effect in vascularized tumors using computer simulation

In silico modeling is an increasingly powerful tool in probing processes driving cancerous behavior and, in particular, tumor response to therapeutics. It has the capability of integrating individually well-understood phenomena across a wide range of scales, such as the vascular extravasation of oxygen and drug, interstitial diffusion, and cells’ response to local concentrations in a spatially multi-dimensional setting, thereby giving rise to behavior that is more than the sum of its inputs. As such, the model can be used as an in silico laboratory, investigating tumor therapeutic response under almost any conceivable set of conditions. The results can suggest hypotheses to be corroborated by further in vitro and in vivo experimentation, the convergence of results shedding light on cancer phenomena and treatment.