A Three-Dimensional Tumor Growth Model and Its Boundary Instability

Expand
  • 1 Mathematics Department, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA;
    2 Zu Chongzhi Center for Mathematics and Computational Sciences, Duke Kunshan University, Kunshan 215316, Jiangsu, China

Received date: 2023-12-27

  Revised date: 2024-05-27

  Accepted date: 2024-06-28

  Online published: 2025-05-23

Supported by

This project is partially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China, Project Number 2021YFA1001200. J. Zhang is partially supported by the Summer Research Scholar program at Duke Kunshan University. X. Xu is partially supported by the National Science Foundation of China Youth Program, Project Number 12101278, and Kunshan Shuangchuang Talent Program, Project Number kssc202102066. The authors would also like to thank the helpful discussion with Yu Feng, Dang Xing Chen, and Lin Jiu.

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the instability of growing tumors by employing both analytical and numerical techniques to validate previous results and extend the analytical findings presented in a prior study by Feng et al. (Z Angew Math Phys 74:107, 2023). Building upon the insights derived from the analytical reconstruction of key results in the aforementioned work in one dimension and two dimensions, we extend our analysis to three dimensions. Specifically, we focus on the determination of boundary instability using perturbation and asymptotic analysis along with spherical harmonics. Additionally, we have validated our analytical results in a two-dimensional (2D) framework by implementing the Alternating Direction Implicit (ADI) method. Our primary focus has been on ensuring that the numerical simulation of the propagation speed aligns accurately with the analytical findings. Furthermore, we have matched the simulated boundary stability with the analytical predictions derived from the evolution function, which will be defined in subsequent sections of our paper. This alignment is essential for accurately determining the stability or instability of tumor boundaries.

Cite this article

Jian-Guo Liu, Thomas Witelski, Xiaoqian Xu, Jiaqi Zhang . A Three-Dimensional Tumor Growth Model and Its Boundary Instability[J]. Communications on Applied Mathematics and Computation, 2025 , 7(3) : 1034 -1073 . DOI: 10.1007/s42967-024-00443-5

References

1. Araujo, R.P., McElwain, D.S.: A history of the study of solid tumour growth: the contribution of mathematical modelling. Bull. Math. Biol. 66(5), 1039–1091 (2004)
2. Baskaran, A., Lowengrub, J.S., Wang, C., Wise, S.M.: Convergence analysis of a second order convex splitting scheme for the modified phase field crystal equation. SIAM J. Numer. Anal. 51(5), 2851–2873 (2013)
3. Bidan, C.M., Wang, F.M., Dunlop, J.W.: A three-dimensional model for tissue deposition on complex surfaces. Comput. Methods Biomech. Biomed. Eng. 16(10), 1056–1070 (2013)
4. Browning, A.P., Maclaren, O.J., Buenzli, P.R., Lanaro, M., Allenby, M.C., Woodruff, M.A., Simpson, M.J.: Model-based data analysis of tissue growth in thin 3D printed scaffolds. J. Theor. Biol. 528, 110852 (2021)
5. Byrne, H., Alarcon, T., Owen, M., Webb, S., Maini, P.: Modelling aspects of cancer dynamics: a review. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. A: Math. Phys. Eng. Sci. 364(1843), 1563–1578 (2006)
6. Chen, W., Wang, C., Wang, X., Wise, S.M.: Positivity-preserving, energy stable numerical schemes for the Cahn-Hilliard equation with logarithmic potential. J. Comput. Phys. X 3, 100031 (2019)
7. Cristini, V., Lowengrub, J., Nie, Q.: Nonlinear simulation of tumor growth. J. Math. Biol. 46, 191–224 (2003)
8. Falcó, C., Cohen, D.J., Carrillo, J.A., Baker, R.E.: Quantifying tissue growth, shape and collision via continuum models and Bayesian inference. J. R. Soc. Interface 20(204), 20230184 (2023)
9. Feng, Y., He, Q., Liu, J.-G., Zhou, Z.: Rigorous derivation of a Hele-Shaw type model and its nonsymmetric traveling wave solution. arXiv:2404.16353 (2024)
10. Feng, Y., Tang, M., Xu, X., Zhou, Z.: Tumor boundary instability induced by nutrient consumption and supply. Z. Angew. Math. Phys. 74(3), 107 (2023)
11. Friedman, A., Reitich, F.: Symmetry-breaking bifurcation of analytic solutions to free boundary problems: an application to a model of tumor growth. Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 353(4), 1587–1634 (2001)
12. Greenspan, H.P.: Models for the growth of solid tumor as a problem by diffusion. Appl. Math. Comput. 30, 215–222 (1972)
13. Gu, Y., Shen, J.: Bound preserving and energy dissipative schemes for porous medium equation. J. Comput. Phys. 410, 109378 (2020)
14. Heinrich, M.A., Alert, R., LaChance, J.M., Zajdel, T.J., Košmrlj, A., Cohen, D.J.: Size-dependent patterns of cell proliferation and migration in freely-expanding epithelia. Elife 9, 58945 (2020)
15. Heinrich, M.A., Alert, R., Wolf, A.E., Košmrlj, A., Cohen, D.J.: Self-assembly of tessellated tissue sheets by expansion and collision. Nat. Commun. 13(1), 4026 (2022)
16. Jacobs, M., Kim, I., Tong, J.: Tumor growth with nutrients: regularity and stability. Commun. Am. Math. Soc. 3(04), 166–208 (2023)
17. Kim, I., Požár, N.: Porous medium equation to Hele-Shaw flow with general initial density. Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 370(2), 873–909 (2018)
18. Kim, I., Požár, N., Woodhouse, B.: Singular limit of the porous medium equation with a drift. Adv. Math. 349, 682–732 (2019)
19. Kim, I.C., Perthame, B., Souganidis, P.E.: Free boundary problems for tumor growth: a viscosity solutions approach. Nonlinear Anal. 138, 207–228 (2016)
20. Kim, I.C., Tong, J.: Interface dynamics in a two-phase tumor growth model. Interfaces Free Boundaries 23(2), 191–304 (2021)
21. Liu, J.-G., Tang, M., Wang, L., Zhou, Z.: An accurate front capturing scheme for tumor growth models with a free boundary limit. J. Comput. Phys. 364, 73–94 (2018)
22. Liu, J.-G., Wang, L., Zhou, Z.: Positivity-preserving and asymptotic preserving method for 2D KellerSegal equations. Math. Comput. 87(311), 1165–1189 (2018)
23. Lowengrub, J.S., Frieboes, H.B., Jin, F., Chuang, Y.-L., Li, X., Macklin, P., Wise, S.M., Cristini, V.: Nonlinear modelling of cancer: bridging the gap between cells and tumours. Nonlinearity 23(1), 1 (2009)
24. Qian, Y., Wang, C., Zhou, S.: Convergence analysis on a structure-preserving numerical scheme for the Poisson-Nernst-Planck-Cahn-Hilliard system. CSIAM Trans. Appl. Math. 4, 345–380 (2023)
25. Roose, T., Chapman, S.J., Maini, P.K.: Mathematical models of avascular tumor growth. SIAM Rev. 49(2), 179–208 (2007)
26. Tong, J., Zhang, Y.P.: Convergence of free boundaries in the incompressible limit of tumor growth models. arXiv:2403.05804 (2024)
27. Vázquez, J.L.: The Porous Medium Equation: Mathematical Theory. Clarendon Press, Oxford (2006)
28. Witelski, T.P., Bowen, M.: ADI schemes for higher-order nonlinear diffusion equations. Appl. Numer. Math. 45(2/3), 331–351 (2003)
Options
Outlines

/