YAP1 defines an emergent, plastic population of relapsed small cell lung cancer. (PubMed, J Thorac Oncol)
As a result of this SCLC-like to LCNEC-like evolution, YAP1-positive cells lack several clinically relevant SCLC surface targets (i.e., DLL3, SEZ6), but are enriched for others (i.e., B7-H3, TROP2). We propose a model where YAP1 expressing cells emerge with SCLC treatment resistance and characterize a tenacious subpopulation capable of diverging from the treatment naïve lineage and adopting features to evade therapeutic response.