Oxygen consumption dynamics in steady-state tumour models

Oxygen levels in cancerous tissue can have a significant effect on treatment response: hypoxic tissue is both more radioresistant and more chemoresistant than well-oxygenated tissue. While recent advances in medical imaging have facilitated real-time observation of macroscopic oxygenation, the under...

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Main Authors: David Robert Grimes, Alexander G. Fletcher, Mike Partridge
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Royal Society 2014-01-01
Series:Royal Society Open Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.140080
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author David Robert Grimes
Alexander G. Fletcher
Mike Partridge
author_facet David Robert Grimes
Alexander G. Fletcher
Mike Partridge
author_sort David Robert Grimes
collection DOAJ
description Oxygen levels in cancerous tissue can have a significant effect on treatment response: hypoxic tissue is both more radioresistant and more chemoresistant than well-oxygenated tissue. While recent advances in medical imaging have facilitated real-time observation of macroscopic oxygenation, the underlying physics limits the resolution to the millimetre domain, whereas oxygen tension varies over a micrometre scale. If the distribution of oxygen in the tumour micro-environment can be accurately estimated, then the effect of potential dose escalation to these hypoxic regions could be better modelled, allowing more realistic simulation of biologically adaptive treatments. Reaction–diffusion models are commonly used for modelling oxygen dynamics, with a variety of functional forms assumed for the dependence of oxygen consumption rate (OCR) on cellular status and local oxygen availability. In this work, we examine reaction–diffusion models of oxygen consumption in spherically and cylindrically symmetric geometries. We consider two different descriptions of oxygen consumption: one in which the rate of consumption is constant and one in which it varies with oxygen tension in a hyperbolic manner. In each case, we derive analytic approximations to the steady-state oxygen distribution, which are shown to closely match the numerical solutions of the equations and accurately predict the extent to which oxygen can diffuse. The derived expressions relate the limit to which oxygen can diffuse into a tissue to the OCR of that tissue. We also demonstrate that differences between these functional forms are likely to be negligible within the range of literature estimates of the hyperbolic oxygen constant, suggesting that the constant consumption rate approximation suffices for modelling oxygen dynamics for most values of OCR. These approximations also allow the rapid identification of situations where hyperbolic consumption forms can result in significant differences from constant consumption rate models, and so can reduce the computational workload associated with numerical solutions, by estimating both the oxygen diffusion distances and resultant oxygen profile. Such analysis may be useful for parameter fitting in large imaging datasets and histological sections, and allows easy quantification of projected differences between functional forms of OCR.
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spelling doaj.art-526c0a2de5a2437dab9001a1d0ffe4032022-12-21T23:39:38ZengThe Royal SocietyRoyal Society Open Science2054-57032014-01-011110.1098/rsos.140080140080Oxygen consumption dynamics in steady-state tumour modelsDavid Robert GrimesAlexander G. FletcherMike PartridgeOxygen levels in cancerous tissue can have a significant effect on treatment response: hypoxic tissue is both more radioresistant and more chemoresistant than well-oxygenated tissue. While recent advances in medical imaging have facilitated real-time observation of macroscopic oxygenation, the underlying physics limits the resolution to the millimetre domain, whereas oxygen tension varies over a micrometre scale. If the distribution of oxygen in the tumour micro-environment can be accurately estimated, then the effect of potential dose escalation to these hypoxic regions could be better modelled, allowing more realistic simulation of biologically adaptive treatments. Reaction–diffusion models are commonly used for modelling oxygen dynamics, with a variety of functional forms assumed for the dependence of oxygen consumption rate (OCR) on cellular status and local oxygen availability. In this work, we examine reaction–diffusion models of oxygen consumption in spherically and cylindrically symmetric geometries. We consider two different descriptions of oxygen consumption: one in which the rate of consumption is constant and one in which it varies with oxygen tension in a hyperbolic manner. In each case, we derive analytic approximations to the steady-state oxygen distribution, which are shown to closely match the numerical solutions of the equations and accurately predict the extent to which oxygen can diffuse. The derived expressions relate the limit to which oxygen can diffuse into a tissue to the OCR of that tissue. We also demonstrate that differences between these functional forms are likely to be negligible within the range of literature estimates of the hyperbolic oxygen constant, suggesting that the constant consumption rate approximation suffices for modelling oxygen dynamics for most values of OCR. These approximations also allow the rapid identification of situations where hyperbolic consumption forms can result in significant differences from constant consumption rate models, and so can reduce the computational workload associated with numerical solutions, by estimating both the oxygen diffusion distances and resultant oxygen profile. Such analysis may be useful for parameter fitting in large imaging datasets and histological sections, and allows easy quantification of projected differences between functional forms of OCR.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.140080mathematical modellinghypoxiaoxygen
spellingShingle David Robert Grimes
Alexander G. Fletcher
Mike Partridge
Oxygen consumption dynamics in steady-state tumour models
Royal Society Open Science
mathematical modelling
hypoxia
oxygen
title Oxygen consumption dynamics in steady-state tumour models
title_full Oxygen consumption dynamics in steady-state tumour models
title_fullStr Oxygen consumption dynamics in steady-state tumour models
title_full_unstemmed Oxygen consumption dynamics in steady-state tumour models
title_short Oxygen consumption dynamics in steady-state tumour models
title_sort oxygen consumption dynamics in steady state tumour models
topic mathematical modelling
hypoxia
oxygen
url https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.140080
work_keys_str_mv AT davidrobertgrimes oxygenconsumptiondynamicsinsteadystatetumourmodels
AT alexandergfletcher oxygenconsumptiondynamicsinsteadystatetumourmodels
AT mikepartridge oxygenconsumptiondynamicsinsteadystatetumourmodels