Analysis of the fluctuations of the tumour/host interface

Milotti, E., Vyshemirsky, V. , Stella, S., Dogo, F. and Chignola, R. (2017) Analysis of the fluctuations of the tumour/host interface. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 486, pp. 587-594. (doi: 10.1016/j.physa.2017.06.005)

Abstract

In a recent analysis of metabolic scaling in solid tumours we found a scaling law that interpolates between the power laws μ∝V and μ∝V2∕3, where μ is the metabolic rate expressed as the glucose absorption rate and V is the tumour volume. The scaling law fits quite well both in vitro and in vivo data, however we also observed marked fluctuations that are associated with the specific biological properties of individual tumours. Here we analyse these fluctuations, in an attempt to find the population-wide distribution of an important parameter (A) which expresses the total extent of the interface between the solid tumour and the non-cancerous environment. Heuristic considerations suggest that the values of the A parameter follow a lognormal distribution, and, allowing for the large uncertainties of the experimental data, our statistical analysis confirms this.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work has been supported by a grant FRA 2013 from the University of Trieste.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Vyshemirsky, Dr Vladislav
• Authors: Milotti, E., Vyshemirsky, V., Stella, S., Dogo, F., and Chignola, R.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Mathematics and Statistics > Statistics
• Journal Name: Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0378-4371
• ISSN (Online): 1873-2119
• Published Online: 10 June 2017
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 Elsevier
• First Published: First published in Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications 486:587-594
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher