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Abstract
The anti-tumor activity of the immune system is increasingly recognized
as critical for the mounting of a prolonged and effective response to cancer
growth and invasion, and for preventing recurrence following resection or
treatment. As the knowledge of tumor-immune cell interactions has advanced,
experimental investigation has been complemented by mathematical modeling with
the goal to quantify and predict these interactions. This succinct review offers
an overview of recent tumor-immune continuum modeling approaches, highlighting
spatial models. The focus is on work published in the past decade, incorporating
one or more immune cell types and evaluating immune cell effects on tumor
progression. Due to their relevance to cancer, the following immune cells and
their combinations are described: macrophages, Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes, Natural
Killer cells, dendritic cells, T regulatory cells, and CD4+ T helper cells.
Although important insight has been gained from a mathematical modeling
perspective, the development of models incorporating patient-specific data
remains an important goal yet to be realized for potential clinical benefit.