Introduction:

The stem cell cancer hypothesis has become one of the most important paradigms in biomedical research. In recent years, evidence has accumulated for the existence of stem cell-like populations in different types of cancer, especially in leukemias.

Objectives:

To show, through mathematical modeling and computational simulation, how changes in the parameters that describe proliferation rates and self-renewal properties can influence the dynamics of healthy and leukemic cell populations.

Methods:

A mathematical model was used which is an extension of the healthy hematopoiesis models. The model was solved using computational tools based on numerical methods, this allowed to carry out countless simulations with different parameters and time intervals.

Results:

By imposing certain initial conditions and mathematically solving the model, the temporal evolution of the state variables of the hematopoietic system was obtained, that is, starting from a known state of the hematopoietic system, the behavior over time of the state variables of the system was predicted. It was particularized for four clinically relevant scenarios.

Conclusions:

The analysis of the model results in different growth scenarios of leukemic cells, among which the increased proliferation of malignant cells is the most prominent. However, different scenarios are possible, such as apoptosis induction or enhanced self-renewal.

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