Figure 2

Consequences of metastatic seeding on primary tumor growth dynamics. (A) Simulated tumor growth of a breast tumor (with low growth rate σ = 0.03). (B) Seeding of a slightly faster-growing metastasis in the lung (σ = 0.035) at time t = 200 days yields accelerated growth of the primary breast tumor. (C) Metastatic seeding re-routes effector cells from the primary breast tumor to the lung metastasis due to its higher blood flow fraction. (D) Simulated tumor growth of a lung tumor (with growth rate σ = 0.035). (E) Seeding of a slightly slower-growing metastasis in the breast (σ = 0.03) at time t = 200 days yields transient decay followed by decelerated growth of the primary lung tumor. (F) Metastatic seeding increases the total systemic number of effector cells, and increases the number of immune cells extravasating at the primary lung tumor due to its higher blood flow fraction.