Macro-scale models for fluid flow in tumour tissues: impact of microstructure properties

Abstract

Understanding the dynamics underlying fluid transport in tumour tissues is of fundamental importance to assess processes of drug delivery. Here, we analyse the impact of the tumour microscopic properties on the macroscopic dynamics of vascular and interstitial fluid flow by using formal asymptotic techniques. Here, we obtained different macroscopic continuum models that couple vascular and interstitial flows. The homogenization technique allows us to derive two macroscale tissue models of fluid flow that take into account the microscopic structure of the vessels and the interstitial tissue. Different regimes were derived according to the magnitude of the vessel wall permeability and the interstitial hydraulic conductivity. Importantly, we provide an analysis of the properties of the models and show the link between them. Numerical simulations were eventually performed to test the models and to investigate the impact of the microstructure on the fluid transport. Future applications of our models include their calibration with real imaging data to investigate the impact of the tumour microenvironment on drug delivery.