Reprogramming normal human epithelial tissues to a common, lethal neuroendocrine cancer lineage

Some (re)programming notes on cancer Epithelial cancers develop resistance to targeted therapies in a number of different ways. Several cancer types do so by undergoing phenotypic conversion to a highly aggressive cancer called small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (SCNC). Whether distinct cancer types accomplish this “reprogramming” through the same mechanism has been unclear. Park et al. show that the same set of oncogenic factors transforms both normal lung and normal prostate epithelial cells into SCNCs that resemble clinical samples (see the Perspective by Kareta and Sage). This convergence of molecular pathways could potentially simplify the development of new therapies for SCNC, which is currently untreatable. Science , this issue p. 91 ; see also p. 30