60941
Computing Cancer Growth Parameters
Fatima Alim
Mentor: Vittorio Cristini
The necrotic core, a mass of dead cells, is the majority of a tumor’s mass. The growth of a tumor is
dependent on pressure, the rate of diffusion of nutrients, and growth factors. In order to study tumor
growth instability, we took human glioblastoma cells grown in different concentrations of fetal
bovine serum (FBS)(1%, 5%, 10%) varied with different glucose concentrations (High 4.5 g/l,
Medium 2.75 g/l, Low 1 g/l) to produce nine tumors grown in altered nutritional conditions. These
tumors were then sliced to an approximate 6 micrometer thickness and mounted on slides. The
tumor slides were marked and stained using different assays in order for three main features of the
tumor to be observed: (1) the number of apoptotic cells, (2) the number of mitotic cells, and (3) the
thickness of the viable rim. It is observed that the mitotic cells are mainly the viable rim of living cells
of the tumor and the mitotic index is highest in 10% FBS and high glucose concentration and lowest
in 1% FBS and low glucose concentration. The trend in apoptotic index however, is not as definitive
under the different serum and glucose concentrations. The viable rim was thicker in 10% FBS and
high glucose concentration and interestingly, we saw that “budding” of the tumor occurred from the
projection of the viable rim only, which was more active in the high nutrient and energy conditions.
These results define growth instabilities of tumors and how these affect the tumor’s growth and
invasiveness.