Math cancer cell growth modeling methods?

[unafa]

So for my IB Internal Assessment in SL Math I have chosen a rather hard topic, at least for me, but i can't pull out of it now so I need some advice. The topics is cancer cell growth modeling... I researched it and thought it would be interesting and easy as it deals with calculus, differentiation and more specifically differential equations. I was so wrong about that. I have been doing a days worth of only superficial research and i CAN NOT find anything specific on modeling. As it is an essay I have to have a task i need to solve in order to have some sort of solution and conclusion. I found some PDF document of university level essays but there is nothing about the method. I thought I was supposed to find a real life or imaginary cancer patient case report, take the information and data "collected" from that case, like the size of the cancer cells, the velocity at which they duplicate and spread, how many cells are created in a day, etc...information that I would, through calculations, put in a certain given formula(if there is one) and further calculate. I though that after that, after I got a function or equation through that calculation, something to be imputed into a software that models the growth, i would get a graph like model that actually shows the growth rate and such. But i can't seem to find that anywhere. I know i sound dumb, but is there any specific method of calculation that actually includes derivatives, differentiation,..some specific, normal calculation that actually requires the knowledge I gained in school, that an IB high school student can solve.? Anything would help

[MadelineB]

Hello Unafa,
First, please explain whether this is a science project or an essay required for assessment/completion of your SL math class? The Science Buddies "Ask an Expert" is for helping students in Grades K-12 with their science projects.

Second, just a suggestion to help in your internet search: you might try including "PubMed" in your search string, and then something like "modeling cancer cell growth" or "modeling tumor cell growth". I expect this search will provide you with many research reports.

If this is indeed a science project, please let us know if you have additional questions.