Mathematical modelling of the response of tumour cells to radiotherapy

Using a model of cell cycle (CelCyMUS) in which the cell population is described in terms of the cell age and position within the cell cycle typical radiotherapy strategies are simulated, and the effects compared to clinical results, showing reasonable qualitative agreement. Alternative strategies are tested on a slow and a fast-growing tumour and the strategy most likely to completely destroy the tumour is found to depend on the growth rate. This work may have important applications for the development of novel radiotherapy fractionation, for example, schedules to take advantage of hypersensitivity to small doses of radiation exhibited by some tumours, which might improve results compared to conventional dosing strategies.