Resumen de Mathematical models of emergence of drug resistance and growth in cancer

Arturo Álvarez Arenas

• This Thesis explores a set of key features of one of the most important group of diseases: cancer. Making use of the tools provided by applied mathematics, several aspects of this complex disease are modeled, validated and used to answer relevant biological questions. Two main subjects of relevance in patient's prognosis are addressed during this work: tumor growth and drug resistance.

  Tumor growth is responsible for the progression of the disease, ultimately causing the death of the patient. The possibility of predicting and managing tumor growth may improve patient's quality of life. To that end, we explore the dynamics governing tumor growth and we study the effect of different therapies in the control of the disease.

  In this thesis we also study the problem of chemotherapy resistance. Cancer cells adopt different strategies to escape from the action of chemotherapeutic agents. To provide new insight in this field, several mathematical analyses are proposed with the aim of understanding this complex issue and proposing alternatives to current treatments.