Mathematical model may lead to safer chemotherapy

The study explains why certain patients develop severe infections after chemotherapy and points to ways of averting this side-effect
Cancer chemotherapy can be a life-saver, but it is fraught with severe side effects, among them an increased risk of infection. Until now, the major criterion for assessing this risk has been the blood cell count: if the number of white blood cells falls below a critical threshold, the risk of infection is thought to be high. A new model built by Weizmann Institute mathematicians in collaboration with physicians from the Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba and from the Hoffmann-La Roche research center in Basel, Switzerland, suggests that for proper risk assessment, it is essential to evaluate not only the quantity of these blood cells, but also their quality, which varies from one person to another.
This research may represent an important step in the emerging field of personalised medicine, leading to a more individualised approach to chemotherapy. In particular, better precautions might need to be taken to prevent infection in high-risk patients whereas those at a low risk could be spared unnecessary preventive treatments.

The study brought together the expertise of researchers from such diverse disciplines as applied mathematics, electrical engineering, oncology, immunology and paediatrics.
The new model reveals how the immune system functions under conditions of neutropenia