A hybrid Ornstein–Uhlenbeck–Branching framework unifies microbial and pediatric tumor evolution

Although Y is directly observed as log10 mutation frequency in LTEE, in tumors Y can represent a longitudinally measurable phenotypic state (e.g., drug-tolerance scores from single-cell data, MRD/VAF-derived burden proxies, or pathway activity states). The balance between stabilizing strength (θ) and stochastic variability (σ) provides a quantitative axis governing plasticity and persistence, motivating future calibration to clinical longitudinal data for evolution-aware, patient-specific modeling.