Review on mathematical approaches of cancer cell invasion at subcellular level

Abstract

Metastasis is a process of cancer cell invasion which is the main cause of death among cancer patients. Invasion of a cancer cell on tissue compartment is initiated by the formation of protrusions known as invadopodia and the degradation of extracellular membrane (ECM) barrier. Invadopodia is one of the subcellular viewson a cancer cell formed by several processes including ligand formation, signal transduction,chemotaxis, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) up regulation and degradation of ECM proteins. Mathematical approach of the cancer cell invasion based on the hypothesis and illustration of previous studies has been considered in order to understand the vivo dynamics of invasion. This study had been done progressively at tissue and cellular levels in the past decades. Recently, mathematical modelling on the study of cancer cell invasion at subcellular level have received much attention since there is potential on anti-invasion therapies for treating the cancer patients. Here, the reviews of mathematical models on cancer cell invasion at subcellular level are able to extend our knowledge on the fields of mathematical medicine and biology.