Most models of cancer assume that tumor cells populations, at low densities, grow exponentially to be eventually limited by the available amount of resources such as space and nutrients. However, recent pre-clinical and clinical data of cancer onset or recurrence indicate the presence of a population dynamics in which growth rates increase with cell numbers. Such effect is analogous to the cooperative behavior in an ecosystem described by the so called Allee effect. In this work, we study the consequences of the Allee effect on cancer growth via the properties of dynamical models incorporating the Allee effect, and the implications that the occurrence of such effect has for the choice of the more appropriate therapy. Some simulations will be presented in which the model is used to fit data from in vitro experiments and clinical trials.

中文翻译：

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阿利效应与癌症的发展和治疗有关吗？

大多数癌症模型都假定低密度的肿瘤细胞群体呈指数增长，最终受到诸如空间和营养物等可用资源的限制。然而，最近的癌症发作或复发的临床前和临床数据表明存在种群动态，其生长速率随着细胞数量的增加而增加。这种效应类似于所谓的Allee效应所描述的生态系统中的合作行为。在这项工作中，我们通过结合Allee效应的动力学模型的性质研究Allee效应对癌症生长的后果，以及这种效应的发生对选择更合适的治疗方法的影响。将提供一些模拟，其中使用该模型拟合来自体外实验和临床试验的数据。