Title:Computational Approaches for Translational Oncology: Concepts and Patents
Volume: 11
Issue: 4
Author(s): Marco Scianna and Luca Munaron
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Cancer treatment, database screening, drug purposing, drug repurposing, mathematical models, pharmacokinetics/
pharmacodynamics models, systems biology.
Abstract: Background: Cancer is a heterogeneous disease, which is based on an intricate network
of processes at different spatiotemporal scales, from the genome to the tissue
level. Hence the necessity for the biomedical and pharmaceutical research to work
in a multiscale fashion. In this respect, a significant help derives from the collaboration
with theoretical sciences. Mathematical models can in fact provide insights into
tumor-related processes and support clinical oncologists in the design of treatment
regime, dosage, schedule and toxicity.
Objective and Method: The main objective of this article is to review the recent
computational-based patents which tackle some relevant aspects of tumor treatment. We first analyze a
series of patents concerning the purposing the purposing or repurposing of anti-tumor compounds.
These approaches rely on pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics modules, that incorporate data obtained
in the different phases of clinical trials. Similar methods are also at the basis of other patents included
in this paper, which deal with treatment optimization, in terms of maximizing therapy efficacy
while minimizing side effects on the host. A group of patents predicting drug response and tumor evolution
by the use of kinetics graphs are commented as well. We finally focus on patents that implement
informatics tools to map and screen biological, medical, and pharmaceutical knowledge.
Results and Conclusions: Despite promising aspects (and an increasing amount of the relative literature),
we found few computational-based patents: there is still a significant effort to do for allowing
modelling approaches to become an integral component of the pharmaceutical research.
