COMBINED HORMONE AND BRACHY THERAPIES FOR THE TREATMENT OF PROSTATE CANCER

Prostate cancer is a hormone-dependent cancer characterized by two types of cancer cells, androgen-dependent cancer cells and androgen-resistant ones. The objective of this paper is to present a novel mathematical model for the treatment of prostate cancer under combined hormone therapy and brachytherapy. Using a system of partial differential equations, we quantify and study the evolution of the different cell densities involved in prostate cancer and their responses to the two treatments. Numerical simulations of tumor growth under different therapeutic strategies are explored and presented. The numerical simulations are carried out on FreeFem++ using a 2D finite element method.