The Role of Adipocytes and Tumour Microenvironment in Ovarian Cancer Progression

OLIVER, SAMUEL

doi:10.23889/SUThesis.71341

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The Role of Adipocytes and Tumour Microenvironment in Ovarian Cancer Progression / SAMUEL OLIVER

Swansea University Author: SAMUEL OLIVER

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Copyright: the author, Samuel Mark Oliver, 2025. Distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 License (CC BY-NC 4.0)
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DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUThesis.71341

Abstract

As the leading cause of death amongst all gynaecological cancers, ovarian cancer research is an increasingly important area of study. Patients of the disease continue to suffer from signiﬁcant challenges despite receiving the best treatment currently available. Throughout the past, treatments deemed...

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Published:	Swansea University 2025
Institution:	Swansea University
Degree level:	Doctoral
Degree name:	Ph.D
Supervisor:	Powathil, G., Picco, N., and Gonzalez, D.
URI:	https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71341

first_indexed	2026-01-29T14:49:17Z
last_indexed	2026-01-30T06:53:11Z
id	cronfa71341
recordtype	RisThesis
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spelling	2026-01-29T14:53:14.0466719 v2 71341 2026-01-29 The Role of Adipocytes and Tumour Microenvironment in Ovarian Cancer Progression 97745f3fdcc9ee520bb2fe6980c747dc SAMUEL OLIVER SAMUEL OLIVER true false 2026-01-29 As the leading cause of death amongst all gynaecological cancers, ovarian cancer research is an increasingly important area of study. Patients of the disease continue to suffer from signiﬁcant challenges despite receiving the best treatment currently available. Throughout the past, treatments deemed optimal have been done so based on results from in vivo or in vitro experiments using physical cells.Advancements in the availability and capability of technology now allows in silico experiments to provide alternative methods and insights into tumour growth.A key aspect of ovarian cancer progression is its tenancy to metastasise. Sur-rounded by the peritoneal cavity and omentum, the ovaries provide an ideal lo-cation for the spread of malignant neoplasms. This, along with the lack of early symptoms exhibited in the majority of cases, causes ovarian cancer to maintain a 5 year survival rate of under 50%. With the help of mathematical models, the scientiﬁc community is aiming to increase this statistic by optimising new treatments and preventative approaches.In this study, we take key aspects of ovarian cancer progression and inhibition and develop multiscale mathematical models to investigate the role of these processes.We begin by exploring the role of adipose tissue found in the omentum. Adipose tissue is home to adipocytes, a cell found to secrete substrates such as leptin and interleukin-6, proven to promote proliferation in cancer tumours. Metastasis occurs as a result of a phenotypic change encouraged by this adipose derived media.The transition between these states, known as epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition is also studied in detail, along with the ability of cisplatin to impede the overall growth of the tumour, with relevant parameters optimised using experimental data. E-Thesis Swansea University Mathematical Oncology, Agent-Based Modelling, Ovarian Cancer, Adipocytes, Modelling chemotherapies 14 10 2025 2025-10-14 10.23889/SUThesis.71341 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Powathil, G., Picco, N., and Gonzalez, D. Doctoral Ph.D EPSRC doctoral training grant EPSRC doctoral training grant 2026-01-29T14:53:14.0466719 2026-01-29T14:41:48.2049539 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Mathematics SAMUEL OLIVER 1 71341__36143__b3f8d8cf6d6a4f9fa833a746d947f5e3.pdf 2025_Oliver_S.final.71341.pdf 2026-01-29T14:47:21.7965401 Output 26217865 application/pdf E-Thesis – open access true Copyright: the author, Samuel Mark Oliver, 2025. Distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 License (CC BY-NC 4.0) true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
title	The Role of Adipocytes and Tumour Microenvironment in Ovarian Cancer Progression
spellingShingle	The Role of Adipocytes and Tumour Microenvironment in Ovarian Cancer Progression SAMUEL OLIVER
title_short	The Role of Adipocytes and Tumour Microenvironment in Ovarian Cancer Progression
title_full	The Role of Adipocytes and Tumour Microenvironment in Ovarian Cancer Progression
title_fullStr	The Role of Adipocytes and Tumour Microenvironment in Ovarian Cancer Progression
title_full_unstemmed	The Role of Adipocytes and Tumour Microenvironment in Ovarian Cancer Progression
title_sort	The Role of Adipocytes and Tumour Microenvironment in Ovarian Cancer Progression
author_id_str_mv	97745f3fdcc9ee520bb2fe6980c747dc
author_id_fullname_str_mv	97745f3fdcc9ee520bb2fe6980c747dc_***_SAMUEL OLIVER
author	SAMUEL OLIVER
author2	SAMUEL OLIVER
format	E-Thesis
publishDate	2025
institution	Swansea University
doi_str_mv	10.23889/SUThesis.71341
college_str	Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id	facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title	Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id	facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title	Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str	School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Mathematics{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Mathematics
document_store_str	1
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description	As the leading cause of death amongst all gynaecological cancers, ovarian cancer research is an increasingly important area of study. Patients of the disease continue to suffer from signiﬁcant challenges despite receiving the best treatment currently available. Throughout the past, treatments deemed optimal have been done so based on results from in vivo or in vitro experiments using physical cells.Advancements in the availability and capability of technology now allows in silico experiments to provide alternative methods and insights into tumour growth.A key aspect of ovarian cancer progression is its tenancy to metastasise. Sur-rounded by the peritoneal cavity and omentum, the ovaries provide an ideal lo-cation for the spread of malignant neoplasms. This, along with the lack of early symptoms exhibited in the majority of cases, causes ovarian cancer to maintain a 5 year survival rate of under 50%. With the help of mathematical models, the scientiﬁc community is aiming to increase this statistic by optimising new treatments and preventative approaches.In this study, we take key aspects of ovarian cancer progression and inhibition and develop multiscale mathematical models to investigate the role of these processes.We begin by exploring the role of adipose tissue found in the omentum. Adipose tissue is home to adipocytes, a cell found to secrete substrates such as leptin and interleukin-6, proven to promote proliferation in cancer tumours. Metastasis occurs as a result of a phenotypic change encouraged by this adipose derived media.The transition between these states, known as epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition is also studied in detail, along with the ability of cisplatin to impede the overall growth of the tumour, with relevant parameters optimised using experimental data.
published_date	2025-10-14T05:33:53Z
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The Role of Adipocytes and Tumour Microenvironment in Ovarian Cancer Progression / SAMUEL OLIVER

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