Advanced Cancer Hallmarks ABM — Tumor Microenvironment

Original 6 hallmarks always active · Toggle the 6 advanced hallmarks

Always active (baked in — original 6 hallmarks): Sustained Growth Signals  ·  Evade Growth Suppression  ·  Resist Apoptosis  ·  Replicative Immortality  ·  Angiogenesis  ·  Invasion & Metastasis   |   Toggle below — 4 confirmed hallmarks + 2 elevated from enabling characteristics (2022): Immune Evasion, Metabolic Reprogramming, Genome Instability, Tumor-Promoting Inflammation, Phenotypic Plasticity, Senescent Cells   |   Note: Polymorphic Microbiota is an enabling characteristic (not a hallmark) per Hanahan 2022 — it is baked in as background context.
Advanced Hallmark Toggles
⑦ Immune Evasion
MHC-I downregulation + PD-L1 upregulation. Killer T cells (pink) patrol tissue and kill cancer cells — unless cancer hides from them.
⑧ Genome Instability
Loss of DNA repair. Each division has a chance to create a mutant subclone (yellow) with enhanced growth or death resistance. Drives tumor heterogeneity.
⑨ Tumor-Promoting Inflammation
Recruited macrophages (orange) secrete growth factors near the tumor, locally boosting cancer division rate rather than clearing infection.
⑩ Metabolic Reprogramming
Warburg effect. Cancer cells switch to glycolysis, survive and divide even in hypoxic zones where normal cells and angiogenesis have not yet reached.
⑪ Senescent Cell Promotion
Senescent cells (lime) accumulate at tumor edges. They secrete SASP factors that locally promote cancer growth instead of triggering immune clearance.
⑫ Unlocking Phenotypic Plasticity
Dedifferentiation + cancer stemness. Cancer cells stochastically revert to a stem-like state (bright purple), gaining enhanced division, survival, and therapy resistance.
Live Statistics
Normal
0
Cancer
1
Mutant clones
0
Migrants
0
Immune cells
0
Stem-like
0
Hyperplasia ht
1
Time (steps)
0
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Tumor Microenvironment View
Normal cell
Cancer cell
Mutant subclone
Migrant (EMT)
Vessel
Killer T cell
Macrophage
Stem-like (plastic)
Dead cell
← Epithelial line · Y = perpendicular tissue space →
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Cell Populations
Hyperplasia Height
Cancer Fraction
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Model citations
Hanahan D. Hallmarks of Cancer: New Dimensions. Cancer Discov. 2022;12(1):31–46. doi:10.1158/2159-8290.CD-21-1059
Hanahan D, Weinberg RA. Hallmarks of Cancer: The Next Generation. Cell. 2011;144(5):646–674.
Greaves M, Maley CC. Clonal evolution in cancer. Nature. 2012;481(7381):306–313.
Al-Hajj M et al. Prospective identification of tumorigenic breast cancer cells. PNAS. 2003;100(7):3983–3988.
Ricci-Vitiani L et al. Identification and expansion of human colon-cancer-initiating cells. Nature. 2007;445(7123):111–115.
Valentim CA, Rabi JA, David SA. Cellular-automaton model for tumor growth dynamics. Comput Biol Med. 2023;153:106481.

AI assistance
This simulation was developed with assistance from Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Anthropic, 2025), model string claude-sonnet-4-6. The agent-based model logic, hallmark parameter tuning, and visual design were iteratively refined through conversation with the model. Biological parameter values were independently verified against the primary literature cited above.