MERTK and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: However, AXL inhibition may lead to up-regulation of other TAM members such as MERTK, which is linked to acquired drug resistance in preclinical models of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, triple-negative breast cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer, and combination therapy targeting both AXL and MERTK could eliminate the acquired resistance and inhibit tumor growth [17].