Nearly seventy-five percent of all skin cancer deaths are caused by melanoma, making it the most serious type of skin cancer.¹ While melanoma has the more predictable growth pattern of basic types of skin cancer, there is still a factor of randomness in its growth. For these reasons, this project attempts to simulate the growth of malignant melanoma cells taking into account as many factors as possible to simulate real-world situations. Factors include competition for nutrients between malignant cells and competition for the infection of healthy cells. This project attempts to come closer to the ideal model of malignant melanoma cancer simulation and gain a greater understanding of this deadly cancer.
In order to model melanoma cancer growth in a meaningful manner, we needed a highly graphical programming language and therefore we chose Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0. It allowed for the relatively easy production of the spectacular graphics needed and allowed for us to concentrate more on the algorithms and virtual model.
The model used a simple, yet very effective and relatively efficient "sweep" method. The process has the program go through the organized representation of the skin cross-section model and develop the cancer according to the parameters and facts that researchers have discovered in labs and case studies. The program factors in probability as well as the pattern of melanoma growth, such as horizontally across the skin and physical conditions of the cancer cells. The program then repeats this "sweep" process multiple times as it continues to develop the cancer through the model.
Our results coincided with test data, which shows that cancer initially follows exponential growth pattern, and then levels out as time progresses. This pattern is called a "sigmoidal" curve. Because our program tends to follow this curve, it appears that the produced results are quite accurate, a major achievement of the project.
Footnote:
¹ American Academy of Dermatology, "Melanoma Fact Sheet." <http://www.aad.org>
