Notch signaling triggers the tumor heterogeneity of small cell lung cancer

Notch signaling is an evolutionary conserved pathway regulating stem cell maintenance, cell fate decisions and proliferation in embryonic as well as adult development. In this editorial, we highlight the work of Lim et al. who investigated a regulatory mechanism in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) depending on Notch signaling which triggers neuroendocrine and non-neuroendocrine tumor cell differentiation and SCLC growth.