ResMap: A community resource for systematic mapping of therapy-persistent residual cancer cell dependencies across contexts

Relapse following targeted therapy remains a central challenge in oncogene-driven cancers. Drug-tolerant persister cells that survive initial treatment without genetic resistance seed relapse, yet despite over a decade of research, no persister-directed therapy has reached clinical approval. To bridge this gap, we developed ResMap, a community resource providing both a standardized experimental framework and quantitative dataset for systematic comparison of persister vulnerabilities across cancer contexts. Using this platform, we evaluated 94 compounds targeting 57 literature-derived candidates in two EGFR mut and two KRAS G12C lung cancer models under normoxic and hypoxic conditions. Initial screening identified 12 targets with conserved anti-persister activity across genotypes and oxygen environments; follow-up validation reproduced 9 of these targets and revealed variable degrees of persister specificity relative to general cytotoxicity. We also identified context-specific vulnerabilities, including KRAS-relevant combination targets, several of which have since been independently reported and/or advanced to clinical testing. Integration of human cancer cell line essentiality data and adult mouse loss-of-function phenotypes provided a complementary tolerability layer to refine prioritization. ResMap establishes a foundation for coordinated community efforts to accelerate rational persister-directed combination strategies toward the clinic.

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Publication Details

Journal
Science Advances
Published
2026-06-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aed7476
Primary Topic
Cancer Cells and Metastasis
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

ResMap: A community resource for systematic mapping of therapy-persistent residual cancer cell dependencies across contexts

Karl Kumbier, Lani F. Wu, Heinz Hammerlindl, Xiaoxiao Sun et al.
Science Advances
Cancer Cells and Metastasis
article

ResMap: A community resource for systematic mapping of therapy-persistent residual cancer cell dependencies across contexts

Karl Kumbier, Lani F. Wu, Heinz Hammerlindl, Xiaoxiao Sun, Steven J. Altschuler, Erin Ahern, Savitha Gayathri
article en

Abstract

Relapse following targeted therapy remains a central challenge in oncogene-driven cancers. Drug-tolerant persister cells that survive initial treatment without genetic resistance seed relapse, yet despite over a decade of research, no persister-directed therapy has reached clinical approval. To bridge this gap, we developed ResMap, a community resource providing both a standardized experimental framework and quantitative dataset for systematic comparison of persister vulnerabilities across cancer contexts. Using this platform, we evaluated 94 compounds targeting 57 literature-derived candidates in two EGFR mut and two KRAS G12C lung cancer models under normoxic and hypoxic conditions. Initial screening identified 12 targets with conserved anti-persister activity across genotypes and oxygen environments; follow-up validation reproduced 9 of these targets and revealed variable degrees of persister specificity relative to general cytotoxicity. We also identified context-specific vulnerabilities, including KRAS-relevant combination targets, several of which have since been independently reported and/or advanced to clinical testing. Integration of human cancer cell line essentiality data and adult mouse loss-of-function phenotypes provided a complementary tolerability layer to refine prioritization. ResMap establishes a foundation for coordinated community efforts to accelerate rational persister-directed combination strategies toward the clinic.

Science AdvancesVol. 12(24)
University of California, San Francisco (US)
Massachusetts General Hospital, California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, Mark Foundation For Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute
Openalex Percentile: Top 7%
Cancer Cells and Metastasis
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