Cancer is still one of the major causes of death worldwide. Even if its comprehension is improving continuously, the complexity and heterogeneity of this group of diseases invariably make some cancer cases incurable and lethal. By focusing only on one or two cancerous molecular species simultaneously, traditional in vitro and in vivo approaches do not provide a global view on this disease and are sometimes unable to generate significant insights about cancer. In silico techniques are increasingly used in the oncology domain for their remarkable integration capacity. In basic cancer research, a vast number of mathematical and computational models has been implemented in the past decades, allowing for a better understanding of these complex diseases, generating new hypotheses and predictions, and guiding scientists towards the most impactful experiments. Although clinical uptake of such in silico approaches is still limited, some treatment strategies are currently under investigation in phase I or II clinical trials. Besides being responsible for new therapeutic ideas, in silico models could play a significant role in optimizing clinical trial design and patient stratification. This review provides a non-exhaustive overview of models according to their intrinsic features. In silico contributions to basic cancer science are discussed, using the hallmarks of cancer as a guidance. Subsequently, in silico cancer models, that are a part of currently ongoing clinical trials, are addressed. In a forward-looking section, issues such as the need for adequate regulatory processes related to in silico models, and advances in model technologies are discussed.

癌症仍然是全世界死亡的主要原因之一。即使其理解力在不断提高，这组疾病的复杂性和异质性也总是使某些癌症病例无法治愈和致命。通过同时仅关注一种或两种癌性分子物种，传统的体外和体内方法无法全面了解这种疾病，有时无法获得有关癌症的重要见解。电脑这些技术因其卓越的整合能力而越来越多地用于肿瘤学领域。在基础癌症研究中，过去几十年来已实施了大量数学和计算模型，从而可以更好地理解这些复杂疾病，产生新的假设和预测，并指导科学家进行最有影响力的实验。尽管这种计算机方法的临床吸收仍然受到限制，但是一些治疗策略目前正在I或II期临床试验中进行研究。除了负责新的治疗理念，in silico模型可以在优化临床试验设计和患者分层中发挥重要作用。本文根据模型的内在特征对模型进行了详尽的介绍。讨论了计算机科学对基础癌症科学的贡献，并以癌症的标志为指导。随后，解决了计算机硅癌模型，这是当前正在进行的临床试验的一部分。在前瞻性部分中，讨论了诸如与计算机模型相关的适当监管程序的需求以及模型技术的发展等问题。