Presented by Marco Archetti, visiting from University of East Anglia, UK

Abstract: In this talk I discuss how game theoretical concepts apply to cancer evolution. I address why most hallmarks of cancer are problems in cooperation for the production of public goods. I analyze growth factor production in well-mixed populations and in monolayers of cells. Tissue structure is modeled as Voronoi graphs. I argue that that clonal selection for growth factor production is frequency-dependent because growth factors have a nonlinear effect on proliferation. This can lead to a stable coexistence of producer and non-producer cells and has implications for cancer progression and the evolution of drug resistance. In particular, I would like to describe the experimental setup I am using and discuss how cancer evolutionary dynamics can be used to test the theory of public goods games.

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