Foundations of Adaptive High-Level Tight Control of Prostate Cancer: A Path from From Terminal Disease to Chronic Condition

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel adaptive control framework using game theory and Bayesian optimization to prolong survival in metastatic prostate cancer, potentially transforming it into a manageable chronic condition.

Contribution

It introduces a high-level tight control approach for adaptive chemotherapy, optimizing drug delivery to significantly extend cancer suppression periods.

Findings

Adaptive optimization can prolong cancer suppression.

High trigger signals improve treatment outcomes.

The approach may convert terminal cancer into a chronic disease.

Abstract

Metastatic prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related morbidity and mortality worldwide. It is characterized by a high mortality rate and a poor prognosis. In this work, we explore how a clinical oncologist can apply a Stackelberg game-theoretic framework to prolong metastatic prostate cancer survival, or even make it chronic in duration. We utilize a Bayesian optimization approach to identify the optimal adaptive chemotherapeutic treatment policy for a single drug (Abiraterone) to maximize the time before the patient begins to show symptoms. We show that, with precise adaptive optimization of drug delivery, it is possible to significantly prolong the cancer suppression period, potentially converting metastatic prostate cancer from a terminal disease to a chronic disease for most patients, as supported by clinical and analytical evidence. We suggest that clinicians might explore the possibility of implementing a high-level tight control (HLTC) treatment, in which the trigger signals (i.e. biomarker levels) for drug administration and cessation are both high and close together, typically yield the best outcomes, as demonstrated through both computation and theoretical analysis. This simple insight could serve as a valuable guide for improving current adaptive chemotherapy treatments in other hormone-sensitive cancers.