Run for your life: an integrated virtual tissue platform for incorporating exercise oncology into immunotherapy

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a novel in silico platform for simulating early-stage solid tumor growth and anti-tumor immune response. We present the model, test the sensitivity and robustness of its parameters, and calibrate it with clinical data from exercise oncology experiments which offer a natural biological backdrop for modulation of anti-tumor immune response. We then perform two virtual experiments with the model that demonstrate its usefulness in guiding pre-clinical and clinical studies of immunotherapy. The first virtual experiment describes the intricate dynamics in the tumor microenvironment between the tumor and the infiltrating immune cells. Such dynamics is difficult to probe during a pre-clinical study as it requires significant redundancy in lab animals and is prohibitively time-consuming and labor-intensive. The result is a series of spatiotemporal snapshots of the tumor and its microenvironment that can serve as a platform to test mechanistic hypotheses on the role and dynamics of different immune cells in anti-tumor immune response. The second virtual experiment shows how dosage and/or frequency of immunotherapy drugs can be optimized based on the aerobic fitness of the patient, so that possible adverse side effects of the treatment can be minimized.