The number of cancer therapies available for clinical use is larger than ever before, but unfortunately, resistance arises for every type of therapy deployed. Many of these mechanisms are based on the acquisition of genetic alterations, but nongenetic resistance can also occur. Marin-Bejar et al. examined the patterns of treatment resistance in melanoma and identified recurrent resistance driven by the emergence of undifferentiated stem-like neural crest cells. These stem-like cells were characterized by activation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) signaling, which in turn could be targeted by the pharmacological inhibition of FAK.
Cancer Cell 10.1016/j.ccell.2021.05.015 (2021).