Dr. Meghan Rhodes (Dept. of Mathematical Sciences, MSU) 

10/14/2022  2:10pm

Abstract:

Glioma is an aggressive form of brain cancer originating from glial cells. Glioma cells are highly invasive, with the tumors often having diffuse and irregular boundaries. It has been well established that tissue heterogeneity significantly affects the direction and speed of glioma spread. Recent work exploring the effects of mechanical properties has strengthened the idea that mechanics plays a large role in determining glioma spread patterns and invasiveness. In this talk, I will introduce the topic of glioma modelling and present a glioma spread model in 3D–a continuum model for the density of tumor cells coupled to a general momentum balance equation for the mechanical properties of the glioma and brain tissue. We focus on modelling two aspects that affect glioma spread: Structural effects on tumor cell migration and the impact of mechanical interactions on tumor spread. After outlining our full 3D glioma spread model, I will discuss travelling wave solutions in a simplified 1D version of the model, and conclude by presenting 2D model simulations based on medical imaging data.

This talk is based on joint work with Thomas Hillen and Vakhtang Putkaradze.