Modelling Optimization and Control of Biomedical Systems

8 In silico Acute Myeloid Leukaemia

Eleni Pefani¹, Eirini G. Velliou², Nicki Panoskaltsis³, Athanasios Mantalaris⁴, Michael C. Georgiadis⁵, and Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos⁶

¹ Clinical Pharmacology Modelling and Simulation, GSK, UK

² Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, UK

³ Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, UK

⁴ Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, UK

⁵ Laboratory of Process Systems Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thesaloniki, Greece

⁶ Texas A&M Energy Institute, Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, USA

8.1 Introduction

In the UK (Cancer Research UK, 2008), it is estimated that more than 1 in 3 people will be afflicted with cancer in their lifetime. For one such cancer, leukaemia – a neoplasm of the blood and bone marrow (BM) – 1 in 71 men and 1 in 105 women will be affected, with incidence sharply rising in adults over the age of 50. Approximately 40% of those affected with leukaemia will have acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).

Leukaemia is a cancer of the BM and blood wherein blood cells are unable to develop or function normally, are overproduced at an immature stage of development and overtake any normal elements remaining in the BM and blood (see also Chapter 7). This uncontrolled growth compounds the morbidity and mortality due to the disease by inhibiting development of healthy ...