A mathematical investigation of different growth rates in simultaneous tumors at two distant sites

Experimental data demonstrates that simultaneous injection of cancer cells at two distinct sites often results in one large and one small tumour. Unbalanced tumour-stimulating inflammation is hypothesized to be the cause of this growth rate separation, causing one tumour to grow faster than the other. Here, a mathematical model for immune recruitment and competition between two cancer sites is developed to explore the role of tumour-promoting inflammation in the observed growth rate separation. Due to the experimental set-up, immune predation may be neglected, focusing the model on tumour-promoting immune actions. A new mathematical model with localized immune recruitment and competition between the two cancer sites is developed using a multi-compartment ODE system. A simulated annealing algorithm is used to fit the model to control data (one tumour burden). Stability and parameter sensitivity analyses are used to explore the mathematical model and parameter space. Next, the two-tumour scenario is predicted by testing parameter values tied to possible biological mechanisms of action. The model predicts that indeed inflammation may be a contributor to growth rate separation observed in simultaneous tumour growth, if one site is pre-inflamed compared to the other.