COMPUTER-SIMULATION OF TUMOR-CELL MOTILITY AND PROLIFERATION

Tumor growth is considered to depend on tumor cell proliferation and on tumor cell motility. The present study investigates in which way these two cellular properties influence the evolving morphological pattern. Computer simulations were performed, where cells were either dividing or moving for a variable distance at a preset probability. The simulation parameters (probability of motility, maximum moving distance) were set interactively. The resulting patterns were evaluated by binary morphological criteria. 13 of 17 binary criteria showed a significant relationship with the simulation parameters (median test: p = < 0.05). Discriminant analysis of two sets of simulations with different simulation parameters provided a correct classification with an efficiency of 100% (k-nearest-neighbour method; jack-knife-procedure). The results indicate that cell proliferation and motility affect morphological patterns in a reproducible way and that the patterns in turn provide morphological clues for the quantitative estimation of motility and proliferation. © 1990, Gustav Fischer Verlag · Stuttgart · New York. All rights reserved.