"Cancer modelling through Evolutionary Game Theory" Colloquium

Prof. David Basanta and Dr. Jeffrey West, Integrated Mathematical Oncology Department at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, USA.
5th February 2018, 14:00-17:00 - Mathematikon Conference Room (5th Floor)

Schedule

14:00-15:30 Introductory tutorial by Dr. Jeffrey West
15:30-16:00 Meet & Greet  / Common Room (5th Floor), Mathematikon, INF 205
16:00-17:00 Lecture by Prof. David Basanta 

Abstracts

Dr. Jeffrey West - "Modeling the evolution of cancer from a game theoretic perspective"

Tumor development is an evolutionary and ecological process in which a heterogeneous population of cells with different growth capabilities compete for space and resources. In this Darwinian competition, systemic therapy strongly selects for resistant phenotypes, leading to eventual unconstrained proliferation of resistant populations even when no drug is present—an evolutionary phenomenon called “competitive release.” Often, the evolution of resistance comes at a cost, as it requires diversion of cellular resources from proliferation and invasion to the resistance mechanism. 

What are the minimal ingredients needed to recreate some of the emergent features of such an evolving complex ecosystem? The first section of this talk will provide an overview of important game theoretic modeling frameworks historically used in modeling cancer progression and therapeutics: deterministic replicator dynamics, stochastic Moran process models, and spatial cellular automata games. The complex interactions within the tumor ecosystem can often be recast in the form of a game payoff table, to which the analytical tools of evolutionary game theory can be applied. In the second half, we highlight the utility, clarity, and power that such models provide, despite (and because of) their simplicity and built-in assumptions.

Prof. David Basanta - "Evolutionary Game Theory to define cancer ecology and evolution"

The importance of evolutionary dynamics in cancer cannot be understated, making mathematical tools like Evolutionary Game Theory (EGT) well suited to investigate the emergence and fixation of phenotypes typically characterized by the hallmarks of cancer. Importantly, and even if not part of the strictest definition of EGT, the storm can be made part of the game and its role studied in connection to the progression of the tumor and its response to treatment. In this talk I will review some of my work in these topics and debate the merits of abstract versus experimentally-driven approaches in mathematical oncology.