ACADEMIA
Mathematics to cure cancer
Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide and the number of cases increases every year. WHO estimates that in 2030 deaths from cancer will be 12 million. But scientific advances in cancer treatment have reduced mortality and extended life expectancy of patients. To be a success, the effectiveness of radiation therapy is localized treatment that attacks the tumor or diseased tissue depends on the definitions of the volumes to radiate and doses to administer, highly accurate and specific calculations for each patient. Planning of these treatments is time consuming and therefore are essential models applied to the different methods of administering radiation therapy based on the data that is valued and measure the area to radiate.
This Radiophysics and mathematicians work together on radiotherapy treatments more effective and less aggressive, and today have in common the different models in Santiago de Compostela in the Workshop "Radiotherapy & Mathematics" organized by the Project Node CESGA held Ingenio Mathematica today in the Graduate Hall of the Faculty of Mathematics. International experts, as radio physics Iuliana Dasu, University of Stockholm or the mathematician Martin Frank of the RWTH Aachen University, Germany, presented various models used to identify changes in tumor radiotherapy treatments, numerical techniques used to solve these models, challenges in this field and the transfer of results.
Optimizing Treatments
Optimizing radiation treatment plans is a problem that involves different conflicting objectives in relation to the dose administered to the tumor and healthy tissues and organs at risk by this radiation. In general, treatment planning systems available do not explicitly consider the multiple nature of the problem, usually reduced to a weighted sum of objectives. This selection of the factors required to weigh and "weight" in the equation could be assumed that treatment was not suitable.
In recent years, great efforts have been made in developing mathematical models that describe the radiation treatment from the standpoint of dose calculation, treatment optimization and modeling the behavior of tumors when treated with radiation therapy or by the use of algorithms of image processing or by optimizing new methods based on biological data.
Biological Models
Iuliana Dasu said that would be necessary biological models, but these are very difficult to do "because they have the data needed to create, as each patient is different. We struggle with dynamic systems: there are constant changes in the sensitivity of cells to radiation, observable even from day to day. It would therefore be great to be able to dynamic models also include the expected changes would allow the variables and the reflexes."
In this sense, the German mathematician Martin Frank suggested that mathematicians could provide solutions as to include different parameters in the algorithm used for the model, so that one could predict, parameter setting, such as change the sensitivity of a cell to radiation in a short space of time. " In the algorithms that are already being used in radiation therapy there are many parameters to determine for what mathematics provide efficient solutions.
The Node CESGA Consolider arises within the Ingenio Mathematica with the mission to take initiatives to transfer mathematical knowledge to the productive sector, promoting the use of mathematical methods and techniques in the industry, the company in general, in environmental management , etc., and research on topics of interest for technological development.
The Supercomputing Center of Galicia (CESGA) is a foundation owned by the Xunta de Galicia and by the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC). Since its inception in 1993, the CESGA has the mission to contribute to the advancement of science and technology through research and application of computing and high performance communication, in collaboration with other institutions for the benefit of society.
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