Arianna Bianchi

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  Neoneurogenesis and tumor metastasis: myth or reality?
  Arianna Bianchi

  Primary tumors infrequently lead to the demise of cancer patients; rather, mortality and a significant degree of morbidity result from the growth of secondary tumors in distant organs (metastasis). Malignant tumors release both lymph- and angio- genic factors, through two specific processes termed lymphangiogenesis and angiogenesis, respectively. In addition, recent experimental evidence shows that tumors initiate their own innervation by the release of neurotrophic factors (neoneurogenesis). The relationship between tumor progression and the nervous system is a complex and poorly understood part of cancer pathogenesis. It is likely that this process is regulated by a multitude of factors in the tumor/nerve microenvironment; these pathways are even further complicated by treatment and disease history as well as other genetic and socioeconomic factors. It is therefore important to study the interactions between the nervous system and tumor cells through mathematical/computational modelling: in this way we will take into account the most significant elements of the plethora of interacting pathways regulating this process. The present work is a first attempt to model the neurobiological aspect of cancer development through a system of differential equations.

  
  

  NOTE: This is a joint work with Dr Georgios Lolas, TU Dresden (Germany).