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Review
. 2022 Mar 23:34:75-81.
doi: 10.1016/j.ctro.2022.03.009. eCollection 2022 May.

The dogma of Cetuximab and Radiotherapy in head and neck cancer - A dawn to dusk journey

Sapna Krishnamurthy  1 , Imtiaz Ahmed  1 , Rohan Bhise  2 , Bidhu K Mohanti  3 , Atul Sharma  4 , Thorsten Rieckmann  5 , Claire Paterson  6 , Pierluigi Bonomo  7
Affiliations
Review

The dogma of Cetuximab and Radiotherapy in head and neck cancer - A dawn to dusk journey

Sapna Krishnamurthy et al. Clin Transl Radiat Oncol. .

Abstract

Since the introduction of Cetuximab as a biological molecule against Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR), its use in the cancers of head and neck region is widely explored. With the recognition that EGFR expression is associated with radioresistance and poor prognosis, incorporation of an anti-EGFR agent along with Radiotherapy (RT) is a logical and attractive option. Cetuximab in combination with RT as Bio-Radiotherapy (BRT) is considered one of the standard treatment modalities in Locally Advanced Head and Neck Squamous Cell Cancers (LA-HNSCC). Many important phase-III clinical trials were undertaken simultaneously, where the use of Cetuximab BRT was tested in various clinical scenarios with different hypothesis. With the studies still ongoing and the results awaited, its use was continued in clinical practice. Today the results are out and definitely not encouraging. After the initial success, Cetuximab has miserably failed to win over cisplatin based chemoradiation which is the current standard of care in LA-HNSCC. Hence, it is the need of the hour to re-evaluate and define the present role of Cetuximab in the definitive management of LA-HNSCC in the light of the latest clinical evidence..

Keywords: Bio-radiotherapy; Cetuximab; Chemoradiation; Head and neck cancer; anti- EGFR.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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