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Understanding Cancer via the Theoretical Sciences:
2009-2010

Organizer: Salvatore Torquato

One of the difficulties in treating and controlling cancer is that it is not a single disease, but a wide spectrum of different diseases. The most malignant forms of cancer remain medical mysteries and therefore very little progress has been made in extending survival times of such cancer patients. There is overwhelming evidence that cancer of all types are emerging, opportunistic systems. Success in treating various cancers as a self-organizing complex dynamical systems will require unconventional, innovative approaches and the combined effort of an interdisciplinary team of researchers. A lofty long-term goal of this project is not only to obtain a quantitative understanding of tumorigenesis but to limit and control the expansion of a solid tumor mass and the infiltration of cells from such masses into healthy tissue. During the last decade or so, it has been recognized that theoretical/computational modeling of tumor evolution will play an important role toward achieving this goal. The purpose of this program is to bring together a relatively small number of theoreticians and select clinicians to review the state-of-the-art in cancer modeling and to identify fruitful future research directions for theoreticians. The program will consist of a few talks and "brain-storming" sessions.