{"entity":{"id":"reaction-diffusion-glioma-model","kind":"technology","name":"Proliferation-invasion (reaction-diffusion) models of glioma","aka":[],"tldr":"Gliomas grow by both dividing and migrating through the brain, and a two-parameter equation fitted to a patient's MRI scans estimates how far invisible cells have spread, which can guide how much brain to irradiate and how fast the tumour will grow.","summary":"Kristin Swanson, James Murray and colleagues modelled glioblastoma as a reaction-diffusion process: cells proliferate at rate rho and diffuse at rate D, faster along white matter. Fitting the two parameters to serial MRI gives a patient-specific 'velocity' of growth and an estimate of tumour cell density beyond the visible edge, which has been used to individualise radiotherapy margins, to define 'days gained' as a response measure, and to predict survival. The model is the most clinically tested biophysical tumour model but requires two pretreatment scans and simplifies the biology of invasion.","status":"emerging","asOf":"2026-09-17","links":[{"label":"Swanson, Alvord and Murray 2000, Cell Proliferation","url":"https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2184.2000.00177.x"}],"tags":["mathematical-model"],"related":[],"cancers":["glioblastoma","brain-tumours"],"sections":["ai-computation","drug-discovery"],"technologies":["mri","adaptive-radiotherapy","dose-painting"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"notes":[],"principle":"Partial differential equation dc/dt = grad(D grad c) + rho·c(1 - c/K): net growth from proliferation and spatial spread from diffusion, with D higher in white matter.","strengths":["Patient-specific from routine MRI","Predicts invisible spread beyond the scan","Tested in radiotherapy planning and response assessment"],"limitations":["Needs two scans before treatment","Ignores immune and vascular effects","Not yet in routine planning systems"],"since":2000},"route":"/technologies/reaction-diffusion-glioma-model/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"brain-tumours","kind":"cancer","name":"Brain and spinal cord tumours (all types)","route":"/cancers/brain-tumours/"},{"id":"glioblastoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Glioma & glioblastoma","route":"/cancers/glioblastoma/"}],"section":[{"id":"ai-computation","kind":"section","name":"AI & Computation","route":"/fronts/ai-computation/"},{"id":"drug-discovery","kind":"section","name":"Drug Discovery Platforms","route":"/fronts/drug-discovery/"}],"technology":[{"id":"adaptive-radiotherapy","kind":"technology","name":"Adaptive radiotherapy (online replanning)","route":"/technologies/adaptive-radiotherapy/"},{"id":"dose-painting","kind":"technology","name":"Dose painting and biologically guided radiotherapy","route":"/technologies/dose-painting/"},{"id":"mri","kind":"technology","name":"MRI","route":"/technologies/mri/"},{"id":"digital-twin-patient-models","kind":"technology","name":"Patient digital twins","route":"/technologies/digital-twin-patient-models/"}]}}