Copyright © 2012 Qing Zhu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

The new concept of keeping primary tumor under control in situ to suppress distant foci sheds light on the treatment of metastatic tumor. Hyperthermia is considered as one of the means for controlling tumor growth. To simulate the tumor growth, a continuum mathematical model has been introduced. The newest understanding of the Warburg effect on the cellular metabolism and diffusion of the nutrients in the tissue has been taken into consideration. The numerical results are compared with the in vivo experimental data by fitting the tumor cell doubling time/tumor cell growth rate under different thermal conditions. Both the tumor growth curve and corresponding average glucose concentration have been predicted. The numerical results have quantitatively illustrated the controlling effect on tumor growth under hyperthermia condition in the initial stage.