Maths Help Explain How Tumors Develop
The intricate ways that cancers develop have long challenged medical science, but there is now real hope that mathematical approaches can shed light on tumor evolution, opening up new possibilities for early treatment.
Professor Simon Tavaré, who heads a world-leading computational biology team at the University of Cambridge, UK, will outline a promising approach at the Australian Academy of Science’s Genomics and Mathematics symposium tomorrow (7 May).
‘Among the critical questions we are seeking to address are: How does a tumor evolve? And how can we study the molecular variation within a tumor?’ he says.
‘Owing to the large numbers of cell divisions involved it is extremely difficult to follow the evolution of dividing cells in a human tumor. So, instead of using direct measurements ““ which would be enormously complex and time consuming ““ we think it is possible to infer features of this evolution from indirect measurements such as the patterns of molecular variation occurring in the cancer cells,’ Professor Tavaré explains.
‘At our lab in Cambridge, my team and I are working to develop a novel high-throughput technology for obtaining molecular data from single cells, and the ‘mathematics’ for a physically-based model for tumor growth.’
‘We hope that these will lead to a much better understanding of the dynamics of tumor growth, and hence an ability to forecast the course of a cancer, but also especially to identify weak links in its development where we can intervene and disrupt or block it. In other words, to find more effective, early treatments for cancer.’
Simon Tavaré is a Professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics and Professor of Cancer Research (Bioinformatics) in the Oncology Department at the University of Cambridge. He is also a Senior Group Leader in the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute. His group there focuses mainly on cancer genomics and evolutionary approaches to cancer, the themes of his talk. In 2009 he was elected a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences.
Simon is also a Research Professor, and George and Louise Kawamoto Chair in Biological Sciences, at the University of Southern California. He is Principal Investigator of USC’s NIH Center of Excellence in Genomic Science, which is developing computational and experimental approaches for understanding how genotype relates to phenotype.
The Genomics and Mathematics symposium will be held at the Shine Dome, Canberra, on 7 May 2010 from 8.50am to 5.30pm. Professor Tavaré will speak at 10.40am. Media are welcome to attend and interview participants.
Details of the Symposium: www.science.org.au/events/sats/sats2010/symposium.html