Treating cancerous cells with a continuous release of virus particles

Abstract

We investigate a model for the treatment of a tumour through the application of a virus. In the original model it was assumed that the virus particles are released only at one time. Such a treatment strategy cannot eliminate a tumour, as the tumour-free steady-state solution is unstable except for pathological circumstances in which the tumour does not grow and/or the virus does not die. We extend the model by allowing the tumour to be treated by a continuous release of virus particles. We show that the scaled delivery rate has two threshold values: below the lower threshold the system evolves to a stable periodic solution; above the higher threshold the tumour is eradicated.

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