Spatio-Temporal Tumor Model for Analysis and Mechanism of Action of Intracellular Drug Accumulation

We have developed a one-dimensional tumor simulator to describe the biodistribution of chemotherapeutic drugs to a tumoral lesion and the tumor cell's response to therapy. A three-compartment model is used for drug dynamics within the tumor. The first compartment represents the extracellular space in which cell move, the second corresponds to the intracellular fluid space (including cell membrane) which is in direct equilibrium with the extracellular space, and the third is a non-exchangeable compartment that represents sequestered drug which is trapped in the nucleus to damage the cellular DNA directly triggering cell death. The analytical and numerical techniques (Finite Element Method) are used to describe the tumor's response to therapy and the effect of parameter variation on the drug concentration profiles in three compartments.