Brown researcher simulates brain-tumor growth
12:10 PM Thu, May 28, 2009 | Permalink
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A computer simulation that mimics the growth of gliomas, the type of brain cancer afflicting Sen. Edward Kennedy, may help doctors develop better treatment for the often-fatal condition, according to a Brown University researcher who helped develop the system. By using a wide array of variables, such as the concentration of nutrients and oxygen content, the simulation is revealing the most important factors that influence the growth of the tumors, said Elaine Bearer, chief author of the new study in the journal Cancer Research and a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Brown. "We've detailed the different parts of tumor growth and assembled it into a single set of equations, and then we can tweak each of the numbers and ask, 'If we had a drug that did something, what would happen?'" she said. "Now that we have this computational program that can test drugs, we can get drugs to the clinic faster." The simulation shows, for example, that when individual cancer cells stick together, a tumor is less likely to invade other tissues. There is also evidence that when a tumor has been starved of oxygen, it "will cause the tumor cells to start migrating, become more ambitious and more aggressive," said Bearer. Because the computer model simulates life on the cellular level, it can take a week to run the program. "We don't target whole tumors," she said. "We target the cells within them and their metabolism." gemery@projo.com / (401) 277-7442. 
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