Prostate cancer cells (PCa) usually metastasize to the bone, an organ that provides an environment that appears to be more suitable to PCa than that of most other organs. Still, most PCa  cells fail to settle and grow in the bone suggesting that not all PCa cells are equally endowed with the capability of successful metastasis. In this talk we will describe a minimal version of the bone ecosystem including osteoclasts and osteoblasts and how a diversity of PCa cells might disrupt bone homeostasis and co-opt bone stroma to promote tumour growth. Mathematical approaches such as Game Theory and agent Based modelling allow us to capture the most important tumour-stromal interactions and learn more about the properties of successful metastatic PCa cells.

prostate, cancer, metastasis, ecosystem, homeostasis