In order to assess the five criteria postulated for overcoming drug resistances 38 well characterized patient-derived, human NSCLC tumor xenograft models (PDX) from the EPO PDX panel were analyzed for mRNA expression of (i) paracrine signaling pathways mediating intercellular interdependency within the Cellular Tumorigenic Network that were (ii) non-overlapping and have been described (iii) as relevant for tumor proliferation previously and druggable by approved inhibitors6. This evidence concerns the gene EPO and non-small cell lung carcinoma.