Fig. 4.

Transition therapy in populations under nonlinear growth. Ecological models of phenotypic switching highlight an important scenario: An exponentially growing phenotype (here, a mesenchymal phenotype M growing beyond tissue boundaries) can be indirectly controlled by the carrying capacity of a limited phenotype (here, an epithelial phenotype E constrained by spatial and nutrient limitations) following a brief phase where E exceeds its carrying capacity due to temporary increased seeding by M. Separation between cell population outgrowth (a) and tumor control (b) is given by a sharp threshold in the growth-to-switching ratio of the exponential phenotype