Controlled Drug Delivery in Cancer Immunotherapy: Stability, Optimization, and Monte Carlo Analysis

Abstract

A discussion on controlled drug delivery in cancer immunotherapy is presented in this paper. A fifth-order model is adopted to describe the dynamics of the tumor–immune interaction. Natural equilibrium points of this system are sought, and their stability is analyzed. An optimal control problem is stated and solved numerically. Both continuous and discrete controls are treated, and their implications on the therapy protocol are discussed. The robustness of the optimal therapies is assessed a posteriori with a Monte Carlo analysis. This shows that the control policy is effective even when the initial patient conditions are affected by uncertainties.