Old Habits Die Hard: Addiction of BRAF-Mutant Cancer Cells to MAP Kinase Signaling.

Dual and triple combination therapies with RAF inhibitors plus other targeted agents have demonstrated promising clinical utility in BRAFV600-mutant solid tumors. However, despite vertical inhibition at multiple nodes on the MAPK signaling pathway, resistant tumors emerge. Ahronian and colleagues show that in BRAF-mutant colorectal cancer, resistance involves reactivation of RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK signaling and may be overcome by newly emerging ERK inhibitors. ©2015 American Association for Cancer Research.