Competition between cancer cells and T cells under immunotherapy: a structured population approach

¹ Department of Mathematical Sciences, Politecnico di Torino, Italy
² Centre de Mathématiques et de Leurs Applications, ENS Cachan, Cachan Cedex, France & INRIA-Paris-Rocquencourt, MAMBA Team, Le Chesnay Cedex, France
³ Department of Health Sciences, A. Avogadro Università del Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy

^a e-mail: marcello.delitala@polito.it
^b e-mail: lorenzi@cmla.ens-cachan.fr
^c e-mail: matteo.melensi@med.unipmn.it

Abstract

T cells are key players in the immune action against the invasion of cancer cells. During an immune response, antigen-specific T cells dynamically sculpt the antigenic distribution of cancer cells, and cancer cells concurrently shape the repertoire of antigen-specific T cells. The succession of these reciprocal selective sweeps can result in “chase-and-escape” dynamics, and lead to immune evasion. It has been proposed that immune evasion can be countered by immunotherapy strategies aimed at regulating the immune response. In this work, we present a mathematical model of the competition between cancer cells and T cells under immunotherapy. We show that effective immunotherapy protocols can be designed by using therapeutic agents that boost T-cell proliferation in combination with boosters of immune memory.