Systems Modeling of Proliferation Mechanisms in Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Abstract

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) is the most common neoplasm in children, but the mechanisms underlying leukemogenesis are poorly understood, despite the existence of several theories regarding the mechanics of leukemic cell proliferation. However, with the advent of new biological principles, it appears that a systems approach could be used in an effective search of global patterns in biological systems, so as to be able to model the phenomenon of proliferation and gain a better understanding of how cells may progress from a healthy to a diseased state. This chapter reviews the current knowledge on proliferation dynamics, along with a discussion of the several existing theories on leukemogenesis and their comparison with the theories governing general oncogenesis. Furthermore, the authors present some “in-house” experimental data that support the view that it is possible to model leukemic cell proliferation and explain how this has been performed in in vitro experiments.