# Oncogene addiction Source: https://onco.cc/terms/oncogene-addiction/ OnCo record `oncogene-addiction` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence. ## TL;DR When a cancer depends so completely on one mutated gene that blocking it collapses the tumour. ## Summary Oncogene addiction is the state in which a cancer depends so completely on a single mutated gene that blocking it collapses the tumour. The term was coined by Weinstein in 2002, and EGFR, ALK, BCR-ABL, KIT and BRAF V600E tumours exemplify it: dramatic responses to a single agent, followed by acquired resistance. It underlies the whole targeted-therapy paradigm and so is linked to the Small-molecule kinase inhibitors technology and the hallmark of sustaining proliferative signalling. Readers meet it in the Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) and Gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST) entries, the Gefitinib and Crizotinib drug records, the FLAURA and ADAURA papers, the entries for Brian Druker and Bud Romine, and ideas on molecular glues against MYC-MAX. ## Fields - Kind: Term - Last checked: 2026-09-04 ## Sources - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oncogene_addiction - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oncogene_addiction ## Connected records - technologies: [Small-molecule kinase inhibitors](https://onco.cc/technologies/kinase-inhibitors/) - key papers: [Activating mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor underlying responsiveness of non-small-cell lung cancer to gefitinib](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-lynch-egfr-activating-mutations-gefitinib-nejm-2004/), [ADAURA: three years of osimertinib after surgery for EGFR-mutated lung cancer](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-adaura-nejm-2020/), [Anaplastic lymphoma kinase inhibition in non-small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-kwak-crizotinib-alk-nsclc-nejm-2010/), [Cancer genome landscapes: about 140 driver genes, and each tumour needs only a handful](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-vogelstein-cancer-genome-landscapes-science-2013/), [EGFR mutations in lung cancer: correlation with clinical response to gefitinib therapy](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-paez-egfr-mutations-gefitinib-science-2004/), [First-line lorlatinib or crizotinib in advanced ALK-positive lung cancer](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-shaw-crown-lorlatinib-crizotinib-nejm-2020/), [FLAURA: osimertinib as first treatment for EGFR-mutated lung cancer](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-flaura-nejm-2018/), [Gefitinib or carboplatin-paclitaxel in pulmonary adenocarcinoma](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-mok-ipass-gefitinib-pulmonary-adenocarcinoma-nejm-2009/), [Identification of the transforming EML4-ALK fusion gene in non-small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-soda-eml4-alk-fusion-nature-2007/), [INDIGO: vorasidenib, the first targeted drug for IDH-mutant low-grade glioma](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-indigo-nejm-2023/), [Osimertinib with or without chemotherapy in EGFR-mutated advanced NSCLC](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-planchard-flaura2-osimertinib-chemotherapy-nejm-2023/), [The Hallmarks of Cancer: six capabilities every tumour must acquire](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-hallmarks-of-cancer-cell-2000/) - trials: [PROFILE 1001 ROS1 expansion cohort](https://onco.cc/trials/profile-1001-ros1/), [PROFILE 1014](https://onco.cc/trials/profile-1014/) - people: [Brian Druker](https://onco.cc/people/brian-druker/), [Bud Romine](https://onco.cc/people/bud-romine/) - ideas: [Molecular glues that break the MYC-MAX partnership](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-bio1-myc-max-molecular-glue/), [Starve MYC-driven tumours by blocking protein production machinery](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-bio1-translation-dependency-myc/) - terms: [Driver and passenger mutations: the refined somatic mutation theory](https://onco.cc/terms/driver-passenger-model/), [Driver mutation](https://onco.cc/terms/driver-mutation/), [Hallmark: sustaining proliferative signalling](https://onco.cc/terms/sustaining-proliferative-signaling/), [Kinase](https://onco.cc/terms/kinase/), [Oncogene](https://onco.cc/terms/oncogene/), [Somatic mutation theory of cancer](https://onco.cc/terms/somatic-mutation-theory/), [Targeted therapy](https://onco.cc/terms/targeted-therapy-term/), [Tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)](https://onco.cc/terms/tki-term/) - cancers: [ALK-positive non-small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/alk-positive-nsclc/), [Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML)](https://onco.cc/cancers/cml/), [EGFR-mutated non-small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/egfr-mutant-nsclc/), [Gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST)](https://onco.cc/cancers/gist/), [Lung cancer (all types)](https://onco.cc/cancers/lung-cancer/), [NTRK fusion-positive non-small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/ntrk-fusion-nsclc/), [RET fusion-positive non-small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/ret-fusion-nsclc/), [ROS1-positive non-small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/ros1-positive-nsclc/) - drugs: [Crizotinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/crizotinib/), [Gefitinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/gefitinib/) - institutions: [Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas (CNIO)](https://onco.cc/institutions/cnio/), [David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT](https://onco.cc/institutions/mit-koch/), [Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital](https://onco.cc/institutions/guangdong-provincial-peoples-hospital/), [International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer](https://onco.cc/institutions/iaslc/), [University of Colorado Cancer Center](https://onco.cc/institutions/colorado-cancer-center/) - pathways: [Drivers, passengers & the two-hit model](https://onco.cc/pathways/oncogene-activation-two-hit/), [Receptor tyrosine kinase activation](https://onco.cc/pathways/rtk-activation/), [Synthetic lethality: paired dependencies](https://onco.cc/pathways/synthetic-lethality-map/) - companies: [Intergroupe Francophone de Cancérologie Thoracique](https://onco.cc/companies/ifct/), [West Japan Oncology Group](https://onco.cc/companies/wjog/) --- JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/oncogene-addiction.json