Study reveals how melanoma outmaneuvers both drugs and immune defenses

A University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center team reports in Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-76864-y) that melanoma cells use ABL1/2 to reactivate ERK signaling and secrete chemokines that recruit myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) to inhibit T cells, achieving both MAPK inhibitor resistance and immune escape at once.