Cancer cell population growth kinetics at low densities deviate from the exponential growth model and suggest an Allee effect.

ABSTRACT: Most models of cancer cell population expansion assume exponential growth kinetics at low cell densities, with deviations to account for observed slowing of growth rate only at higher densities due to limited resources such as space and nutrients. However, recent preclinical and clinical observations of tumor initiation or recurrence indicate the presence of tumor growth kinetics in which growth rates scale positively with cell numbers. These observations are analogous to the cooperative behavior of species in an ecosystem described by the ecological principle of the Allee effect. In preclinical and clinical models, however, tumor growth data are limited by the lower limit of detection (i.e., a measurable lesion) and confounding variables, such as tumor microenvironment, and immune respons

SUBMITTER: Johnson KE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6695196 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature