Pancreatic cancer research using BioDynaMo presented at WCCM-ECCOMAS

The Biology Dynamics Modeller (BioDynaMo) team recently presented the results of their research at the World Congress on Computational Mechanics (WCCM-ECCOMAS) in Munich.

This study presents an agent-based model (ABM) of pancreatic cancer developed using BioDynaMo to investigate tumour growth, treatment effects and immune responses in a virtual environment.

The model represents cancer cells as individual agents whose behaviour is governed by rules derived from an existing mathematical model of pancreatic cancer. It incorporates key biological processes such as tumour cell proliferation, cell death and immune-mediated effects on tumour survival. Unlike traditional mathematical models, the ABM enables simulations in a three-dimensional spatial environment, allowing the representation of cell interactions and substance diffusion.

The main goal is to validate the agent-based approach by reproducing results reported in previous computational studies. Simulation outcomes are compared with reference mathematical models, particularly regarding the growth of tumour cell populations under different tumour and immune-related parameter settings.

Results show that the BioDynaMo model successfully reproduces the qualitative behaviour and trends observed in the reference studies, demonstrating consistency between the mathematical and agent-based formulations. A sensitivity analysis further evaluates how changes in key parameters influence tumour dynamics.

Overall, the work demonstrates that BioDynaMo can effectively model pancreatic cancer progression and treatment responses, providing results consistent with established mathematical models while adding the benefit of spatial visualisation of local cellular interactions.

The BioDynaMo project is in part made possible thanks to philanthropic support. If you would like to contribute, donate below.