The Evolution of the Use of Mathematics in Cancer Research

The book will provide an exhaustive and clear explanation of how Statistics, Mathematics and Informatics have been used in cancer research, and seeks to help cancer researchers in achieving their objectives. To do so, state-of-the-art Biostatistics, Biomathematics and Bioinformatics methods will be described and discussed in detail through illustrative and capital examples taken from cancer research work already published. The book will provide a guide for cancer researchers in using Statistics, Mathematics and Informatics, clarifying the contribution of these logical sciences to the study of cancer, thoroughly explaining their procedures and methods, and providing criteria to their appropriate use. This book is designed for advanced students and researchers pursuing the use of biostatistics and biomathematics in their investigations in biology and medicine in general, and in cancer in particular. Each chapter has been conceived as a part in the whole in such a way that information flows easily, explaining in a concise and clear way a particular subject, and connecting its results with those in the previous and following chapters. State-of-the-art biostatistics and biomathematics methods and techniques are explained in detail through illustrative and capital examples taken from cancer research work already published, and the result is a self-contained book on medicine, statistics and mathematics which illustrates the potential of biostatistics and biomathematics in biomedical research. Focusing on the achievements that biostatistics and biomathematics have already obtained, researchers can perceive the high returns that the use of statistics and mathematics yield in biomedical research, and thanks to the detailed discussion of the applied statistical and mathematical techniques, they can deduce the criteria and motif for finding the appropriate use of these formal disciplines Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Historical Introduction....Pages 1-15 Descriptive Biostatistics....Pages 17-32 Inferential Biostatistics (I): Estimating Values of Biomedical Magnitudes....Pages 33-57 Inferential Biostatistics (II): Estimating Biomedical Behaviors....Pages 59-127 Equations: Formulating Biomedical Laws and Biomedical Magnitudes....Pages 129-199 Systems of Equations: The Explanation of Biomedical Phenomena (I). Basic Questions....Pages 201-240 Systems of Equations: The Explanation of Biomedical Phenomena (II). Dynamic Interdependencies....Pages 241-275 Optimal Control Theory: From Knowledge to Control (I). Basic Concepts....Pages 277-307 Optimal Control Theory: From Knowledge to Control (II). Biomedical Applications....Pages 309-339 Game Theory....Pages 341-386 Back Matter....Pages 381-381 Historical Introduction -- Descriptive Biostatistics -- Inferential Biostatistics (i): Estimating Values Of Biomedical Magnitudes -- Inferential Biostatistics (ii): Estimating Biomedical Behaviors -- Equations: Formulating Biomedical Laws And Biomedical Magnitudes -- Systems Of Equations: The Explanation Of Biomedical Phenomena (i). Basic Questions -- Systems Of Equations: The Explanation Of Biomedical Phenomena (ii). Dynamic Interdependencies -- Optimal Control Theory: From Knowledge To Control (i). Basic Concepts -- Optimal Control Theory: From Knowledge To Control (ii). Biomedical Applications -- Game Theory. Pedro J. Gutiérrez Diez, Irma H. Russo, Jose Russo. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.