Modeling tumor growth (Q1174545)

The paper is arranged as follows: In Section 2 we address the feasibility of modelling tumor growth when the detection size is arbitrarily small and the uniqueness of the subsequent growth as well as its biological meaning. In Section 3, by introducing the concept of entropy, we discuss the relation between growth and the probability that a malignant cell is at rest or active. In Section 4 we address the mechanism of metastasis and its mathematical relation to metabolic rate. In Section 5 we discuss age-dependent Von Bertalanffy growth [\textit{L. Von Bertalanffy} in W. W. Nowinsky (ed.), Fundamental aspects of normal and malignant growth (1960)] and the problem of existence and uniqueness. Finally, in Section 6 we introduce a diffusion model that quantifies the model of cell proliferation and tumor structure introduced by \textit{I. F. Tannock} [Br. J. Cancer 22, 258-273 (1968)] and \textit{R. H. Thomlinson} and \textit{L. H. Gray} [ibid. 9, 539-549 (1955)].