Dynamics of targeted cancer therapy

Targeted cancer therapies offer renewed hope for an eventual ‘cure for cancer’. At present, however, their success is often compromised by the emergence of resistant tumor cells. In many cancers, patients initially respond to single therapy treatment but relapse within months. Mathematical models of somatic evolution can predict and explain patterns in the success or failure of anticancer drugs. These models take into account the rate of cell division and death, the mutation rate, the size of the tumor, and the dynamics of tumor growth including density limitations caused by geometric and metabolic constraints. As more targeted therapies become available, mathematical modeling will provide an essential tool to inform the design of combination therapies that minimize the evolution of resistance.