Cytokinetic Analysis of Tumor Growth
Year: 1966
Type: article
Abstract: The growth of cell populations rarely follows a constant and inexorable course. Rather, the over-all growth rate usually shifts in a characteristic fashion with times appropriate to the particular population: from rapid growth to slow growth and even on occasion to no growth or negative growth. The reasons for this are far from clear. Population growth represents the summation of birth and death or loss functions. Knowledge of the fine structure of the growth pattern of a cell population may therefore provide important insight about the nature of rate-controlling factors. The present investigation was undertaken to determine the cytokinetic basis for the change in growth rate as a tumor increases in size. It was found in earlier work with ascites tumors of mice' -3 that the growth pattern appeared to be a function mainly of the total number of free tumor cells. The initial, comparatively brief phase of rapid cell proliferation was followed by a progressive deceleration toward an asymptote. Several factors may contribute to growth deceleration: (1) a progressive increase in duration of the mitotic cell cycle; (2) a gradual decline in the growth fraction; and (3) an increase in the rate of cell loss by either cell death or migration. Although some attention has been given to the mitotic cycle4-8 and the growth fraction9-'2 during tumor development, the precise connection of the cytokinetic variables noted above to the over-all growth curve has not been established.
Authors: Peeyush K. Lala, Harvey M. Patt
Language: English
Subfield: Modeling and Simulation
Field: Mathematics
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1982377613