Kill the sleeping survivor cells with iron-dependent cell death
A few cancer cells survive treatment by going quiet rather than mutating. These survivors are unusually vulnerable to a particular kind of cell death, which a drug could trigger.
Drug-tolerant persister cells adopt a mesenchymal, slow-cycling state that depends on the lipid peroxidase GPX4; their elimination by GPX4 inhibition has been shown in several models across lung, breast and other cancers. Translating this requires a tolerable GPX4 inhibitor or an alternative ferroptosis inducer, and a schedule that applies it during the persister window shortly after maximal response.
- Acquired resistance to every therapy · Nearly every targeted therapy stops working within months to a few years as the tumour adapts.
- Dormant cells and minimal residual disease · After a 'successful' treatment, cells can sleep for years then relapse. We can barely detect them and cannot target them.
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not linked directly; found by shared links- IdeaStarve the survivors: target the energy pathway drug-tolerant cells switch to
Shares Drug resistance (primary and acquired), Dormant cells and minimal residual disease, Minimal / molecular residual disease (MRD), Acquired resistance to every therapy.
- IdeaCut off the emergency programme cancer cells use to survive treatment
Shares Drug resistance (primary and acquired), Minimal / molecular residual disease (MRD), Acquired resistance to every therapy.
- IdeaBlock the chemical switch that lets cells hide from treatment
Shares Drug resistance (primary and acquired), Acquired resistance to every therapy.
- IdeaTurn off the error-prone repair that manufactures resistance mutations
Shares Drug resistance (primary and acquired), Acquired resistance to every therapy.
- IdeaMake post-progression sampling a condition of accelerated approval
Shares Drug resistance (primary and acquired), Acquired resistance to every therapy.
- IdeaEvery resistance mechanism found in a patient must be rebuilt in the laboratory
Shares Drug resistance (primary and acquired), Acquired resistance to every therapy.
- IdeaSMART designs to test treatment strategies, not just single drugs
Shares Drug resistance (primary and acquired), Acquired resistance to every therapy.
- IdeaFund a biopsy at progression, every time, as standard care
Shares Drug resistance (primary and acquired), Acquired resistance to every therapy.