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Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology

Erschienen in:

01.03.2009 | Original Paper

Epidermal growth factor receptor status and persistent activation of Akt and p44/42 MAPK pathways correlate with the effect of cetuximab in head and neck and colon cancer cell lines

verfasst von: Takashi Yamatodani, Lars Ekblad, Elisabeth Kjellén, Anders Johnsson, Hiroyuki Mineta, Johan Wennerberg

Erschienen in: Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology | Ausgabe 3/2009

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Abstract

Objective

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) blockade on cell survival and on downstream signalling pathways using the monoclonal antibody cetuximab.

Methods

We used three colon cancer cell lines, of which one was EGFR-negative, and two head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) lines. EGFR expression and gene copy number were measured by immunohistochemistry and FISH analysis, respectively. The effect of cetuximab, irradiation or the combination of both on cell growth was estimated by SRB assay. Western blotting was used to determine the phosphorylation of intracellular signalling proteins and cell cycle phase distribution was measured by flow cytometry.

Results

The addition of cetuximab had only limited effects on cell growth, with a maximum inhibition of approximately 30%, but was correlated with the amount of protein expression and gene copy number of EGFR. When combined with irradiation, the effect of cetuximab was only additive and not dependent on the inherent radio-sensitivity of the cell lines. Persistent phosphorylation of Akt and/or p44/42 MAPK was detected by western blot in all of the cell lines, whereas there was no phosphorylation of Jak2 or STAT3.

Conclusions

None of these factors alone could predict the sensitivity to cetuximab. Rather, the results suggest that it might be necessary to determine the activation status of several intracellular signalling proteins to better predict the sensitivity to cetuximab treatment.

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Titel: Epidermal growth factor receptor status and persistent activation of Akt and p44/42 MAPK pathways correlate with the effect of cetuximab in head and neck and colon cancer cell lines
verfasst von: Takashi Yamatodani
Lars Ekblad
Elisabeth Kjellén
Anders Johnsson
Hiroyuki Mineta
Johan Wennerberg
Publikationsdatum: 01.03.2009
Verlag: Springer-Verlag
Erschienen in: Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology / Ausgabe 3/2009
Print ISSN: 0171-5216
Elektronische ISSN: 1432-1335
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-008-0475-2

Springer Medizin

Epidermal growth factor receptor status and persistent activation of Akt and p44/42 MAPK pathways correlate with the effect of cetuximab in head and neck and colon cancer cell lines