Effects of the obesity on optimal control schedules of chemotherapy on a cancerous tumor

Obesity as a risk factor has been found in different types of cancers such as breast cancer and colorectal cancer among others. This challenges us to study the cancer-obesity relationship and the tumor response to chemotherapy. In this work, we study and analyze optimal control protocols for chemotherapy treatments for a mathematical model of cancerous growing tumor that is interacting with the healthy cells, the immune system cells and the stored fat in the organism. This model considers different cell populations using a population dynamics approach. Our main interest is to provide insights about the qualitative and quantitative possible affects of a low/high caloric diet on the chemotherapy protocols when different immune system responses are considered. According to our model the immune system response and the diet are important factors and their inclusion could lead to improved chemotherapy protocols. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.