Can fractional calculus help improve tumor growth models?

ODE-based population models remain viable tools to investigate tumor growth and support clinical evidence. By following a fractional approach, this study derives analytical solutions for five of these models, whose parameters are best-fitted against extant clinical data. In terms of tumor growth prediction, results show that fractional models not only have better performance, which is mostly wanted for decision-making in oncology, but also reveal interesting characteristics to be further explored.