Parameter estimation in a Gompertzian stochastic model for tumor growth

The problem of estimating parameters in the drift coefficient when a diffus ion process is observed continuously requires some specific assumptions. in this paper, we consider a stochastic version of the Gompertzian model that describes in vivo tumor growth and its sensitivity to treatment with antia ngiogenic drugs. An explicit likelihood function is obtained, and a-e discu ss some properties of the maximum likelihood estimator for the intrinsic gr owth rate of the stochastic Gompertzian model. Furthermore, we show some si mulation results on the behavior of the corresponding discrete estimator. F inally, an application is given to illustrate the estimate of the model par ameters using real data.