MetaSpread: A cancer growth and metastatic spread simulation program in Python

Abstract

We develop and provide MetaSpread, an open-source simulation package and interactive program in Python for tumor growth and metastatic spread, based on a mathematical model by Franssen et al. (2019). This paper proposed a hybrid modeling and computational framework where cellular growth and metastatic spread are described and simulated in a spatially explicit manner, accounting for stochastic individual cell dynamics and deterministic dynamics of abiotic factors. This model incorporates several key processes such as the growth and movement of epithelial and mesenchymal cells, the role of the extracellular matrix, diffusion, haptotaxis, circulation and survival of cancer cells in the vasculature, and seeding and growth in secondary sites. In the software that we develop, these growth and metastatic dynamics are programmed using MESA, a Python Package for Agent-based modeling (Masad & Kazil, 2015).