Tumorcode : A framework to simulate vascularized tumors

Abstract

During the past years our group published several articles using computer simulations to address the complex interaction of tumors and the vasculature as underlying transport network. Advances in imaging and lab techniques pushed in vitro research of tumor spheroids forward and animal models as well as clinical studies provided more insights to single processes taking part in tumor growth, however, an overall picture is still missing. Computer simulations are a non-invasive option to cumulate current knowledge and form a quasi in vivo system. In our software, several known models were assembled into a multi-scale approach which allows to study length scales relevant for clinical applications. We release our code to the public domain, together with a detailed description of the implementation and several examples, with the hope of usage and futher development by the community. A justification for the included algorithms and the biological models was obtained in previous publications, here we summarize the technical aspects following the workflow of a typical simulation procedure.