An evolutionary approach to cancer chemotherapy scheduling

In this paper, we investigate the employment of evolutionary algorithms as a search mechanism in a decision support system for designing chemotherapy schedules. Chemotherapy involves using powerful anticancer drugs to help eliminate cancerous cells and cure the condition. It is given in cycles of treatment alternating with rest periods to allow the body to recover from toxic side-effects. The number and duration of these cycles would depend on many factors, and the oncologist would schedule a treatment for each patient’s condition. The design of a chemotherapy schedule can be formulated as an optimal control problem; using an underlying mathematical model of tumour growth (that considers interactions with the immune system and multiple applications of a cycle-phase-specific drug), the objective is to find effective drug schedules that help eradicate the tumour while maintaining the patient health’s above an acceptable level. A detailed study on the effects of different objec...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2007
• Where: GPEM
• Authors: Gabriela Ochoa, Minaya Villasana, Edmund K. Burke
• Keywords: Chemotherapy Schedule, GPEM 2007, Objective Function, Powerful Anticancer Drugs