In Silico Model for Tumor Diagnosis based on Bloodstream Penetrating Extracellular Vesicles

Abstract

During the last decade, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged in the scientific community because of their potential as natural drug nanocarriers and biomarkers in disease diagnosis, especially for cancer. While a few studies have focused on the propagation and biodistribution of tumorderived EVs within the extracellular space or the bloodstream, there is a lack of simultaneous consideration of the transport of EVs within the blood vessels, surrounding tissue and tumor microenvironment. Here, we introduce an in silico model that simulates the release of EVs from cancer cells, their transport within the surrounding tissues, uptake into the bloodstream, and circulation within the segment of the blood vessels network comprising the arterial, capillary and venous vessels. By examining the obtained simulation results, we also propose a novel diagnostic procedure for sub-millimeter tumors based on the EV penetration rate into the circulatory system. Our simulations demonstrate the sensitivity of the approach to tumor size, whereas our findings further demonstrate that EVs offer a promising avenue for non-invasive disease diagnosis.