Article
作者: Shen, Yuping ; Pang, Lanlan ; Yu, Wenyan ; Chen, Zexin ; Blumenthal, Gideon ; Li, Xingya ; Wang, Haiyong ; Liu, Yanjun ; Yang, Mengjuan ; Kataria, Ritesh ; Hu, Liyang ; Zhao, Jun ; Ge, Junyou ; Hong, Shaodong ; Chen, Xueyuan ; Zhang, Yongchang ; Qu, Xiujuan ; Yang, Yunpeng ; Zeng, Yiming ; Yu, Yan ; Wang, Yongsheng ; Sun, Longhua ; Li, Anlin ; Zhang, Yaxiong ; Liao, Jun ; Li, Ting ; Fang, Wenfeng ; Akala, Omobolaji ; Li, Jing ; Zhang, Li ; Yao, Wenxiu ; Zhuang, Weitao ; Huang, Jie
Drug-tolerant persister (DTP) cells play a key role in the development of resistance to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in EGFR-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Through comprehensive analyses, we identify that TROP2 is dynamically upregulated during TKI-induced DTP formation and functionally contributes to DTP maintenance. Mechanistically, c-Myc acts as a transcriptional repressor of TROP2, and TKI-mediated MAPK pathway inhibition reduces c-Myc levels, leading to TROP2 upregulation. Importantly, combining the TROP2-targeting antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) sacituzumab tirumotecan (sac-TMT) with osimertinib effectively suppresses DTP emergence and delays tumor relapse in preclinical models. An ongoing phase 2 trial evaluating first-line sac-TMT plus osimertinib combination therapy in patients with advanced EGFR-mutant NSCLC shows preliminary efficacy. Together, our findings establish TROP2 as a therapeutically actionable vulnerability in DTP cells and support the clinical development of TROP2-ADC combined with EGFR-TKI as a first-line strategy to delay TKI resistance and improve outcomes in EGFR-mutant NSCLC.