Optimal control analysis of combined anti-angiogenic and tumor immunotherapy

The author considers a mathematical model of immunotherapy and anti-angiogenesis inhibitor therapy for cancer patients over a fixed time horizon. Disease dynamics are captured by a system of ODEs developed in [1], describing dynamics among host cells, cancer cells, endothelial cells, effector cells, and anti-angiogenesis. Existence, uniqueness, and characterization of optimal treatment profiles that minimize the tumor and drug usage, while maintaining healthy levels of effector and host cells are determined. A theoretical analysis is performed to characterize the optimal control. Numerical simulations are performed to illustrate optimal control profiles for a variety of different patients, each leading to different treatment protocols.