It was shown that expression of AXL in the mesenchymal NSCLC clones was correlated with an increased cancer cell intrinsic resistance to immune cell-mediated killing by NK cells as well as autologous CTLs while AXL targeting via small molecule inhibition potently sensitized mesenchymal lung cancer cells to cytotoxic lymphocyte-mediated killing[127]. Here, AXL is linked to lung cancer.