Collapsing the tumor ecosystem: Preventing adaptive response to treatment by inhibiting transcription

Abstract

Adaptation and resistance to treatment are the results of a multitude of (epi)genetic events unmasked or directly triggered by therapies targeting the genetic driver(s) of a dominant cell population within a tumor mass. Rusan and colleagues report that drug-tolerant cells are sensitive to THZ1, a dual CDK7/12 inhibitor, which, by impairing the transcriptional machinery, can prevent cellular rewiring to survive therapeutic attack.