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. 2024 Jun:372:109187.
doi: 10.1016/j.mbs.2024.109187. Epub 2024 Apr 2.

Mathematical model for IL-2-based cancer immunotherapy

Megan Dixon  1 , Tuan Anh Phan  2 , J C Dallon  3 , Jianjun Paul Tian  4
Affiliations

Mathematical model for IL-2-based cancer immunotherapy

Megan Dixon et al. Math Biosci. 2024 Jun.

Abstract

A basic mathematical model for IL-2-based cancer immunotherapy is proposed and studied. Our analysis shows that the outcome of therapy is mainly determined by three parameters, the relative death rate of CD4+ T cells, the relative death rate of CD8+ T cells, and the dose of IL-2 treatment. Minimal equilibrium tumor size can be reached with a large dose of IL-2 in the case that CD4+ T cells die out. However, in cases where CD4+ and CD8+ T cells persist, the final tumor size is independent of the IL-2 dose and is given by the relative death rate of CD4+ T cells. Two groups of in silico clinical trials show some short-term behaviors of IL-2 treatment. IL-2 administration can slow the proliferation of CD4+ T cells, while high doses for a short period of time over several days transiently increase the population of CD8+ T cells during treatment before it recedes to its equilibrium. IL-2 administration for a short period of time over many days suppresses the tumor population for a longer time before approaching its steady-state levels. This implies that intermittent administration of IL-2 may be a good strategy for controlling tumor size.

Keywords: CD4(＋) T cell; CD8(＋) T cell; IL-2; Immunotherapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest On behalf of all coauthors, I state that: There is non-financial interest in this research.

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