Coordination games in cancer

Abstract

We propose a model of cancer initiation and progression where tumor growth is modulated by an evolutionary coordination game. Evolutionary games of cancer are widely used to model frequency-dependent cell interactions with the most studied games being the Prisoner’s Dilemma and public goods games. Coordination games, by their more obscure and less evocative nature, are left understudied, despite the fact that, as we argue, they offer great potential in understanding and treating cancer. In this paper we present the conditions under which coordination games between cancer cells evolve, we propose aspects of cancer that can be modeled as results of coordination games, and explore the ways through which coordination games of cancer can be exploited for therapy.

The role of evolutionary game theory in spatial and non-spatial models of the survival of cooperation in cancer: a review

“…where each strategy is the best play against itself. Neither the Prisoner’s Dilemma nor the Snowdrift game are coordination games, and while there has been some suggestion that coordination games may exist in cancer, they have yet to be explicitly identified [31]. It is worth noting that the oft-quoted one-third rule [32] for the survival of ‘cooperation’—that under certain conditions, cooperation is a favoured strategy if the unstable equilibrium x∗=false(δ−βfalse)/false(α+δ−γ−βfalse) is greater than one-third—is only relevant to coordination games.…”

Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Melanoma: Treatment Management Implications

“…According to the authors, this can be exploited for the setting of proper therapy, as clinicians could design treatment plans aimed at keeping tumor size and composition under control. Obviously, when two cellular phenotypes compete, new therapeutic regimens can be designed to maintain heterogeneous tumor composition [ 66 ].…”

Ecology and games in cancer: new insights into the disease

“…This mathematical tool has also been applied to analyze biological problems, and lately to explore the complexity of cancer. The hawk-dove game 19 , the prisoner’s dilemma 20 , coordination games 21 , and multiplayer public good games such as the volunteer’s dilemma 22 , for example, are different theoretical scenarios that have been applied to cancer analysis in recent years.…”

“…Here, non-coordination between individuals provides low payoffs whereas coordination provides high payoffs. Using a modification of the Lotka-Volterra model of competition, coordination games have been proposed to improve current cancer treatments by hypothesizing on a comparison between two different therapeutic strategies: one that increases tumor cell deaths and another that increases tumor cell mutation rates 21 .…”