System Engineering Approach to Planning Anticancer Therapies

This§book focuses on the analysis of cancer dynamics and the mathematically based§synthesis of anticancer therapy. It summarizes the current state-of-the-art in§this field and clarifies common misconceptions about mathematical modeling in§cancer. Additionally, it encourages closer cooperation between engineers,§physicians and mathematicians by showing the clear benefits of this without§stating unrealistic goals. Development of therapy protocols is realized from an§engineering point of view, such as the search for a solution to a specific control-optimization§problem. Since in the case of cancer patients, consecutive measurements§providing information about the current state of the disease are not available,§the control laws are derived for an open loop structure. Different forms of§therapy are incorporated into the models, from chemotherapy and antiangiogenic§therapy to immunotherapy and gene therapy, but the class of models introduced§is broad enough to incorporate other forms of therapy as well.§§The§book begins with an analysis of cell cycle control, moving on to control§effects on cell population and structured models and finally the signaling§pathways involved in carcinogenesis and their influence on therapy outcome. It§also discusses the incorporation of intracellular processes using§signaling pathway models, since§the successful treatment of cancer based on analysis of intracellular§processes, might soon be a reality. It brings together various aspects§of modeling anticancer therapies, which until now have been distributed over a§wide range of literature. Written for researchers and§graduate students interested in the use of mathematical and engineering tools§in biomedicine with special emphasis on applications in cancer diagnosis and§treatment, this self-contained book can be easily understood with only a§minimal basic knowledge of control and system engineering methods as well as§the biology of cancer. Its interdisciplinary character and the authors' extensive§experience in cooperating with clinicians and biologists make it interesting reading§for researchers from control and system engineering looking for applications of§their knowledge. Systems and molecular biologists as well as clinicians will§also find new inspiration for their research.§§