Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Cancer models”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 109 records · Page 6

NF-κB and neutrophil extracellular traps cooperate to promote breast cancer progression and metastasis

Highlights: • Cancer cells–derived factors, such as IL-8 and G-CSF, induce NETs formation via PAD4 and NF-κB. • NETs increase the interaction of NEMO with IKKα/β and enhance NF-κB activation. • Blockade of NETs using PAD4 inhibitor decreases NF-κB and tumor metastasis. • Selective inhibition of NF-κB reduces NETs formation and tumor growth and metastasis. Aberrant NF-κB activation and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are associated with breast cancer progression. How NF-κB and NETs modulate each other in breast cancer development remains unclear. Here, we found that NETs induced by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate promote breast cancer cell progression. In turn, cancer cells–derived factors, such as IL-8 and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, stimulate neutrophils to form NETs. Mechanistically, NETs increased the interaction of NF-κB essential modifier (NEMO) with IκB kinase (IKK)α/β and enhanced NF-κB activation. We then employed a cell-permeable peptide corresponding to the NEMO-binding domain (NBD) of IKKα/β, termed NBD peptide, which disrupts NETs-mediated NEMO interaction with IKKα/β and abolished NF-κB activation in vitro. NBD peptide also reduced IL-8 level and NETs formation, and suppressed primary tumor growth and/or lung metastasis in human breast cancer mouse xenograft models and mouse spontaneous breast cancer model. Blockade of NET formation using a peptidylarginine deiminase 4 (PAD4) pharmacologic inhibitor decreased NF-κB activation and tumor metastasis. Collectively, these data suggest that NF-κB associates with NETs to form a positive loop facilitating breast tumor progression and metastasis, and that selective inhibition of NF-κB and PAD4-dependent NETs provides an effective therapeutic approach for treating breast cancer.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Screening a knowledge‐based library of low molecular weight compounds against the proline biosynthetic enzyme 1‐pyrroline‐5‐carboxylate 1 ( PYCR1)

Abstract Δ 1 ‐pyrroline‐5‐carboxylate reductase isoform 1 (PYCR1) is the last enzyme of proline biosynthesis and catalyzes the NAD(P)H‐dependent reduction of Δ 1 ‐pyrroline‐5‐carboxylate toL‐proline. High PYCR1 gene expression is observed in many cancers and linked to poor patient outcomes and tumor aggressiveness. The knockdown of thePYCR1gene or the inhibition of PYCR1 enzyme has been shown to inhibit tumorigenesis in cancer cells and animal models of cancer, motivating inhibitor discovery. We screened a library of 71 low molecular weight compounds (average MW of 131 Da) against PYCR1 using an enzyme activity assay. Hit compounds were validated with X‐ray crystallography and kinetic assays to determine affinity parameters. The library was counter‐screened against human Δ 1 ‐pyrroline‐5‐carboxylate reductase isoform 3 and proline dehydrogenase (PRODH) to assess specificity/promiscuity. Twelve PYCR1 and one PRODH inhibitor crystal structures were determined. Three compounds inhibit PYCR1 with competitive inhibition parameter of 100 μM or lower. Among these, (S)‐tetrahydro‐2H‐pyran‐2‐carboxylic acid (70 μM) has higher affinity than the current best tool compoundN‐formyl‐l‐proline, is 30 times more specific for PYCR1 over human Δ 1 ‐pyrroline‐5‐carboxylate reductase isoform 3, and negligibly inhibits PRODH. Structure‐affinity relationships suggest that hydrogen bonding of the heteroatom of this compound is important for binding to PYCR1. The structures of PYCR1 and PRODH complexed with 1‐hydroxyethane‐1‐sulfonate demonstrate that the sulfonate group is a suitable replacement for the carboxylate anchor. This result suggests that the exploration of carboxylic acid isosteres may be a promising strategy for discovering new classes of PYCR1 and PRODH inhibitors. The structure of PYCR1 complexed withl‐pipecolate and NADH supports the hypothesis that PYCR1 has an alternative function in lysine metabolism.

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology↗

HMGB1-containing nucleosome mediates chemotherapy-induced metastasis of human lung cancer

Highlights: • Chemotherapy induces invasion and metastasis of human lung cancer. • HMGB1-containing nucleosome drives lung cancer invasion and metastasis. • TLR4 and TLR9 license HMGB1/nucleosome-induced cancer metastasis. • Circulating HMGB1/nucleosome reflects cancer cell invasion in lung cancer patients. While chemotherapy is an important and widely used therapeutic for cancer, it may facilitate cancer metastasis. Herein, we report that human lung cancer cells exert higher invasion and metastasis after chemotherapy. In a human lung cancer xenograft model, chemotherapy promotes the cancer invasion and metastasis in HMGB1-dependent manner. Further studies identify HMGB1-containing nucleosome from chemotherapy-induced apoptotic cancer cells as an effective factor. Such nucleosome functions through TLR4 and TLR9 to drive cancer invasion and metastasis. In lung cancer patients, circulating HMGB1-containing nucleosome is higher in those under chemotherapy, predicting poorly cancer cell differentiation state, enhanced cancer invasion and advanced TNM stages. These findings provide a novel mechanism by which the tumor metastasis is propagated in lung cancer patients, especially in those under chemotherapy, and a clue for developing therapeutic strategies against chemotherapy-induced metastasis.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Mathematical model of a personalized neoantigen cancer vaccine and the human immune system

Cancer vaccines are an important component of the cancer immunotherapy toolkit enhancing immune response to malignant cells by activating CD4 + and CD8 + T cells. Multiple successful clinical applications of cancer vaccines have shown good safety and efficacy. Despite the notable progress, significant challenges remain in obtaining consistent immune responses across heterogeneous patient populations, as well as various cancers. We present a mechanistic mathematical model describing key interactions of a personalized neoantigen cancer vaccine with an individual patient’s immune system. Specifically, the model considers the vaccine concentration of tumor-specific antigen peptides and adjuvant, the patient’s major histocompatibility complexes I and II copy numbers, tumor size, T cells, and antigen presenting cells. We parametrized the model using patient-specific data from a clinical study in which individualized cancer vaccines were used to treat six melanoma patients. Model simulations predicted both immune responses, represented by T cell counts, to the vaccine as well as clinical outcome (determined as change of tumor size). This model, although complex, can be used to describe, simulate, and predict the behavior of the human immune system to a personalized cancer vaccine.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

SU-F-T-355: Evaluation of Knowledge-Based Planning Model for the Cervical Cancer Radiotherapy

Purpose: The Varian RapidPlan™ is a commercial knowledge-based optimization process which uses a set of clinically used treatment plans to train a model that can predict individualized dose-volume objectives. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the performance of RapidPlan to generate intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) plans for cervical cancer. Methods: Totally 70 IMRT plans for cervical cancer with varying clinical and physiological indications were enrolled in this study. These patients were all previously treated in our institution. There were two prescription levels usually used in our institution: 45Gy/25 fractions and 50.4Gy/28 fractions. 50 of these plans were selected to train the RapidPlan model for predicting dose-volume constraints. After model training, this model was validated with 10 plans from training pool(internal validation) and additional other 20 new plans(external validation). All plans used for the validation were re-optimized with the original beam configuration and the generated priorities from RapidPlan were manually adjusted to ensure that re-optimized DVH located in the range of the model prediction. DVH quantitative analysis was performed to compare the RapidPlan generated and the original manual optimized plans. Results: For all the validation cases, RapidPlan based plans (RapidPlan) showed similar or superior results compared to the manual optimized ones. RapidPlan increased the result of D98% and homogeneity in both two validations. For organs at risk, the RapidPlan decreased mean doses of bladder by 1.25Gy/1.13Gy (internal/external validation) on average, with p=0.12/p<0.01. The mean dose of rectum and bowel were also decreased by an average of 2.64Gy/0.83Gy and 0.66Gy/1.05Gy,with p<0.01/ p<0.01and p=0.04/<0.01 for the internal/external validation, respectively. Conclusion: The RapidPlan model based cervical cancer plans shows ability to systematically improve the IMRT plan quality. It suggests that RapidPlan has great potential to make the treatment planning process more efficient.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

CD63-mediated cloaking of VEGF in small extracellular vesicles contributes to anti-VEGF therapy resistance

Despite wide use of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy for many solid 30 cancers, most of them become resistant to this therapy and develop into progressive disease. 31 Therefore, new biomarkers and strategies for blocking adaptive resistance of cancer to anti-VEGF therapy are needed. As described herein, we found that cancer-derived small extracellular vesicles (EVs) package increasing quantities of VEGF and other factors in response to anti-VEGF therapy. Notably, small EV-VEGF (eVEGF) is not recognized by bevacizumab and can be transferred to endothelial cells and trigger intracrine signaling and promote angiogenesis. Also, serum eVEGF was present at higher levels in ovarian cancer mouse models with adaptive resistance to bevacizumab than in models sensitive to it. Ovarian cancer cell-derived eVEGF increased tumor growth despite treatment with bevacizumab. Notably, the eVEGF level was elevated in patient serum after bevacizumab-containing therapy. Proteomic data of small EVs from mouse models suggested that several novel biomarkers are promising for drug response prediction. Collectively, these data demonstrated a new mechanism whereby eVEGF evades recognition by therapeutic antibodies and promotes tumor angiogenesis and progression. These findings have clinical implications for biomarkers and new therapeutic strategies for ovarian cancer.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Space Radiation Cancer Risks

Space radiation presents major challenges to astronauts on the International Space Station and for future missions to the Earth s moon or Mars. Methods used to project risks on Earth need to be modified because of the large uncertainties in projecting cancer risks from space radiation, and thus impact safety factors. We describe NASA s unique approach to radiation safety that applies uncertainty based criteria within the occupational health program for astronauts: The two terrestrial criteria of a point estimate of maximum acceptable level of risk and application of the principle of As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) are supplemented by a third requirement that protects against risk projection uncertainties using the upper 95% confidence level (CL) in the radiation cancer projection model. NASA s acceptable level of risk for ISS and their new lunar program have been set at the point-estimate of a 3-percent risk of exposure induced death (REID). Tissue-averaged organ dose-equivalents are combined with age at exposure and gender-dependent risk coefficients to project the cumulative occupational radiation risks incurred by astronauts. The 95% CL criteria in practice is a stronger criterion than ALARA, but not an absolute cut-off as is applied to a point projection of a 3% REID. We describe the most recent astronaut dose limits, and present a historical review of astronaut organ doses estimates from the Mercury through the current ISS program, and future projections for lunar and Mars missions. NASA s 95% CL criteria is linked to a vibrant ground based radiobiology program investigating the radiobiology of high-energy protons and heavy ions. The near-term goal of research is new knowledge leading to the reduction of uncertainties in projection models. Risk projections involve a product of many biological and physical factors, each of which has a differential range of uncertainty due to lack of data and knowledge. The current model for projecting space radiation cancer risk relies on the three assumptions of linearity, additivity, and scaling along with the use of population averages. We describe uncertainty estimates for this model, and new experimental data that sheds light on the accuracy of the underlying assumptions. These methods make it possible to express risk management objectives in terms of quantitative metrics, i.e., the number of days in space without exceeding a given risk level within well defined confidence limits. The resulting methodology is applied to several human space exploration mission scenarios including lunar station, deep space outpost, and a Mars mission. Factors that dominate risk projection uncertainties and application of this approach to assess candidate mitigation approaches are described.

Cucinotta, Francis A.↗

Understanding the Connection between Nanoparticle Uptake and Cancer Treatment Efficacy using Mathematical Modeling

Nanoparticles have shown great promise in improving cancer treatment efficacy while reducing toxicity and treatment side effects. Predicting the treatment outcome for nanoparticle systems by measuring nanoparticle biodistribution has been challenging due to the commonly unmatched, heterogeneous distribution of nanoparticles relative to free drug distribution. We here present a proof-of-concept study that uses mathematical modeling together with experimentation to address this challenge. Individual mice with 4T1 breast cancer were treated with either nanoparticle-delivered or free doxorubicin, with results demonstrating improved cancer kill efficacy of doxorubicin loaded nanoparticles in comparison to free doxorubicin. We then developed a mathematical theory to render model predictions from measured nanoparticle biodistribution, as determined using graphite furnace atomic absorption. Model analysis finds that treatment efficacy increased exponentially with increased nanoparticle accumulation within the tumor, emphasizing the significance of developing new ways to optimize the delivery efficiency of nanoparticles to the tumor microenvironment.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

NASA Models of Space Radiation Induced Cancer, Circulatory Disease, and Central Nervous System Effects

The risks of late effects from galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and solar particle events (SPE) are potentially a limitation to long-term space travel. The late effects of highest concern have significant lethality including cancer, effects to the central nervous system (CNS), and circulatory diseases (CD). For cancer and CD the use of age and gender specific models with uncertainty assessments based on human epidemiology data for low LET radiation combined with relative biological effectiveness factors (RBEs) and dose- and dose-rate reduction effectiveness factors (DDREF) to extrapolate these results to space radiation exposures is considered the current "state-of-the-art". The revised NASA Space Risk Model (NSRM-2014) is based on recent radio-epidemiology data for cancer and CD, however a key feature of the NSRM-2014 is the formulation of particle fluence and track structure based radiation quality factors for solid cancer and leukemia risk estimates, which are distinct from the ICRP quality factors, and shown to lead to smaller uncertainties in risk estimates. Many persons exposed to radiation on earth as well as astronauts are life-time never-smokers, which is estimated to significantly modify radiation cancer and CD risk estimates. A key feature of the NASA radiation protection model is the classification of radiation workers by smoking history in setting dose limits. Possible qualitative differences between GCR and low LET radiation increase uncertainties and are not included in previous risk estimates. Two important qualitative differences are emerging from research studies. The first is the increased lethality of tumors observed in animal models compared to low LET radiation or background tumors. The second are Non- Targeted Effects (NTE), which include bystander effects and genomic instability, which has been observed in cell and animal models of cancer risks. NTE's could lead to significant changes in RBE and DDREF estimates for GCR particles, and the potential effectiveness of radiation mitigator's. The NSRM- 2014 approaches to model radiation quality dependent lethality and NTE's will be described. CNS effects include both early changes that may occur during long space missions and late effects such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). AD effects 50% of the population above age 80-yr, is a degenerative disease that worsens with time after initial onset leading to death, and has no known cure. AD is difficult to detect at early stages and the small number of low LET epidemiology studies undertaken have not identified an association with low dose radiation. However experimental studies in mice suggest GCR may lead to early onset AD. We discuss modeling approaches to consider mechanisms whereby radiation would lead to earlier onset of occurrence of AD. Biomarkers of AD include amyloid beta (A(Beta)) plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) made up of aggregates of the hyperphosphorylated form of the micro-tubule associated, tau protein. Related markers include synaptic degeneration, dentritic spine loss, and neuronal cell loss through apoptosis. Radiation may affect these processes by causing oxidative stress, aberrant signaling following DNA damage, and chronic neuroinflammation. Cell types to be considered in multi-scale models are neurons, astrocytes, and microglia. We developed biochemical and cell kinetics models of DNA damage signaling related to glycogen synthase kinase-3(Beta) (GSK3(Beta)) and neuroinflammation, and considered multi-scale modeling approaches to develop computer simulations of cell interactions and their relationships to A(Beta) plaques and NFTs. Comparison of model results to experimental data for the age specific development of A(Beta) plaques in transgenic mice will be discussed.

Cucinotta, Francis A.↗

Enhanced Co-Expression Extrapolation (COXEN) Gene Selection Method for Building Anti-Cancer Drug Response Prediction Models

The co-expression extrapolation (COXEN) method has been successfully used in multiple studies to select genes for predicting the response of tumor cells to a specific drug treatment. Here, we enhance the COXEN method to select genes that are predictive of the efficacies of multiple drugs for building general drug response prediction models that are not specific to a particular drug. The enhanced COXEN method first ranks the genes according to their prediction power for each individual drug and then takes a union of top predictive genes of all the drugs, among which the algorithm further selects genes whose co-expression patterns are well preserved between cancer cases for building prediction models. We apply the proposed method on benchmark in vitro drug screening datasets and compare the performance of prediction models built based on the genes selected by the enhanced COXEN method to that of models built on genes selected by the original COXEN method and randomly picked genes. Models built with the enhanced COXEN method always present a statistically significantly improved prediction performance (adjusted p-value ≤ 0.05). Our results demonstrate the enhanced COXEN method can dramatically increase the power of gene expression data for predicting drug response.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Investigating Sociodemographic Disparities in Cancer Risk Using Web-Based Informatics

Cancer health disparities due to demographic and socioeconomic factors are an area of great interest in the epidemiological community. Adjusting for such factors is important when developing cancer risk models. However, for digital epidemiology studies relying on online sources such information is not readily available. This paper presents a novel method for extracting demographic and socioeconomic information from openly available online obituaries. The method relies on tailored language processing rules and a probabilistic scheme to map subjects’ occupation history to the occupation classification codes and related earnings provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. Using this information, a case-control study is executed fully in silico to investigate how age, gender, parity, and income level impact breast and lung cancer risk. Based on 48,368 online obituaries (4,643 for breast cancer, 6,274 for lung cancer, and 37,451 cancer-free) collected automatically and a generalized cancer risk model, our study shows strong association between age, parity, and socioeconomic status and cancer risk. Although for breast cancer the observed trends are very consistent with traditional epidemiological studies, some inconsistency is observed for lung cancer with respect to socioeconomic status.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Identification of blood protein biomarkers associated with prostate cancer risk using genetic prediction models: analysis of over 140,000 subjects

Prostate cancer (PCa) brings huge public health burden in men. A growing number of conventional observational studies report associations of multiple circulating proteins with PCa risk. However, the existing findings may be subject to incoherent biases of conventional epidemiologic studies. To better characterize their associations, herein, we evaluated associations of genetically predicted concentrations of plasma proteins with PCa risk. In this study, we developed comprehensive genetic prediction models for protein levels in plasma. After testing 1308 proteins in 79 194 cases and 61 112 controls of European ancestry included in the consortia of BPC3, CAPS, CRUK, PEGASUS, and PRACTICAL, 24 proteins showed significant associations with PCa risk, including 16 previously reported proteins and eight novel proteins. Of them, 14 proteins showed negative associations and 10 showed positive associations with PCa risk. For 18 of the identified proteins, potential functional somatic changes of encoding genes were detected in PCa patients in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Genes encoding these proteins were significantly involved in cancer-related pathways. We further identified drugs targeting the identified proteins, which may serve as candidates for drug repurposing for treating PCa. In conclusion, this study identifies novel protein biomarker candidates for PCa risk, which may provide new perspectives on the etiology of PCa and improve its therapeutic strategies.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Comparison and multi-model inference of excess risks models for radiation-related solid cancer

In assessments of detrimental health risks from exposures to ionising radiation, many forms of risk to dose–response models are available in the literature. The usual practice is to base risk assessment on one specific model and ignore model uncertainty. The analysis illustrated here considers model uncertainty for the outcome all solid cancer incidence, when modelled as a function of colon organ dose, using the most recent publicly available data from the Life Span Study on atomic bomb survivors of Japan. Seven recent publications reporting all solid cancer risk models currently deemed plausible by the scientific community have been included in a model averaging procedure so that the main conclusions do not depend on just one type of model. The models have been estimated with different baselines and presented for males and females at various attained ages and ages at exposure, to obtain specially computed model-averaged Excess Relative Risks (ERR) and Excess Absolute Risks (EAR). Monte Carlo simulated estimation of uncertainty on excess risks was accounted for by applying realisations including correlations in the risk model parameters. Three models were found to weight the model-averaged risks most strongly depending on the baseline and information criteria used for the weighting. Fitting all excess risk models with the same baseline, one model dominates for both information criteria considered in this study. Based on the analysis presented here, it is generally recommended to take model uncertainty into account in future risk analyses.

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTAN↗

My Virtual Cancer

Since each cancer has its own unique characteristics, each one can respond differently to the same treatments. Therefore, the creation of a digital twin (DT) of cancer can assist us in predicting the evolution of an individual's cancer through modeling each tumor's characteristics and response to treatment. Hence, we propose to take advantage of new advances in computational approaches and combine mechanistic, machine learning, and stochastic modeling approaches to create “My Virtual Cancer", a DT platform. To establish a personalized DT, we use patient-specific data for parameter estimations, sensitivity analysis, and uncertainty quantification. For each patient, we will estimate the values of parameters of their QSP model using the patient's data. We perform a multi-dimensional sensitivity analysis and uncertainty quantification on the mechanistic model to find a set of critical interactions and predict the intervals of confidence. Since this QSP model includes the data-driven mechanistic model of cells and molecules' interaction networks, one of the ultimate results of this DT would be the prediction of evolution of tumors.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Therapeutic Targeting of LIF Overcomes Macrophage-mediated Immunosuppression of the Local Tumor Microenvironment

Abstract Purpose: Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is a multifunctional cytokine with numerous reported roles in cancer and is thought to drive tumor development and progression. Characterization of LIF and clinical-stage LIF inhibitors would increase our understanding of LIF as a therapeutic target. Experimental Design: We first tested the association of LIF expression with transcript signatures representing multiple processes regulating tumor development and progression. Next, we developed MSC-1, a high-affinity therapeutic antibody that potently inhibits LIF signaling and tested it in immune competent animal models of cancer. Results: LIF was associated with signatures of tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) across 7,769 tumor samples spanning 22 solid tumor indications. In human tumors, LIF receptor was highly expressed within the macrophage compartment and LIF treatment drove macrophages to acquire immunosuppressive capacity. MSC-1 potently inhibited LIF signaling by binding an epitope that overlaps with the gp130 receptor binding site on LIF. MSC-1 showed monotherapy efficacy in vivo and drove TAMs to acquire antitumor and proinflammatory function in syngeneic colon cancer mouse models. Combining MSC-1 with anti-PD1 leads to strong antitumor response and a long-term tumor-free survival in a significant proportion of treated mice. Conclusions: Overall, our findings highlight LIF as a therapeutic target for cancer immunotherapy.

Oncology↗

Implementing Badhwar-O'Neill Galactic Cosmic Ray Model for the Analysis of Space Radiation Exposure

For the analysis of radiation risks to astronauts and planning exploratory space missions, accurate energy spectrum of galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) is necessary. Characterization of the ionizing radiation environment is challenging because the interplanetary plasma and radiation fields are modulated by solar disturbances and the radiation doses received by astronauts in interplanetary space are likewise influenced. A model of the Badhwar‐O'Neill 2011 (BO11) GCR environment, which is represented by GCR deceleration potential theta, has been derived by utilizing all of the GCR measurements from balloons, satellites, and the newer NASA Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE). In the BO11 model, the solar modulation level is derived from the mean international sunspot numbers with time‐delay, which has been calibrated with actual flight instrument measurements to produce better GCR flux data fit during solar minima. GCR fluxes provided by the BO11 model were compared with various spacecraft measurements at 1 AU, and further comparisons were made for the tissue equivalent proportional counters measurements at low Earth orbits using the high‐charge and energy transport (HZETRN) code and various GCR models. For the comparison of the absorbed dose and dose equivalent calculations with the measurements by Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) at Gale crater on Mars, the intensities and energies of GCR entering the heliosphere were calculated by using the BO11 model, which accounts for time‐dependent attenuation of the local interstellar spectrum of each element. The BO11 model, which has emphasized for the last 24 solar minima, showed in relatively good agreement with the RAD data for the first 200 sols, but it was resulted in to be less well during near the solar maximum of solar cycle 24 due to subtleties in the changing heliospheric conditions. By performing the error analysis of the BO11 model and the optimization in reducing overall uncertainty, the resultant BO13 model corrects the fit at solar maxima as well as being accurate at solar minima. The BO13 model is implemented to the NASA Space Cancer Risk model for the assessment of radiation risks. Overall cumulative probability distribution of solar modulation parameters represents the percentile rank of the average interplanetary GCR environment, and the probabilistic radiation risks can be assessed for various levels of GCR environment to support mission design and operational planning for future manned space exploration missions.

Kim, Myung-Hee Y.↗