As part of an interdisciplinary team, Dr. Swanson will lead project # 3, titled “E = mc2: Environment-driven Mathematical Modeling for the physical microenvironment in clinical cancer imaging.”
An overview:
“The physical microenvironments of primary and metastatic cancers are highly heterogeneous and almost invariably different from normal tissue. Abnormal tumor vasculogenesis and chaotic blood flow lead to chronic and acute (often cyclical) hypoxia. Abnormal glucose metabolism due to hypoxia and aerobic glycolysis leads to acidosis.. This program will examine the role of the physical microenvironment in carcinogenesis, tumor progression and metastases. A major focus will be translational as we actively perturbations in the microenvironment as novel cancer prevention and treatment strategies…”