The drug-tolerant persister (DTP) state originally described in EGFR mutant non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells by Sharma et al. [8] has been further investigated in a series of follow-up papers: our lab has shown a highly similar phenotypic transition to a drug-tolerant state (termed-induced drug-tolerant cells or IDTCs) using BRAF and NRAS mutant melanoma exposed to BRAF inhibitors, hypoxia or nutrient starvation [5, 15]. Here, NRAS is linked to non-small cell lung carcinoma.