The Right Partner in Crime: Unlocking the Potential of the Anti-EGFR Antibody Cetuximab via Combination With Natural Killer Cell Chartering Immunotherapeutic Strategies

Frontiers in Immunology

卷:12

Ines De Pauw¹  Filip Lardon¹  An Wouters²  Jan Baptist Vermorken²  Hasan Baysal²  Marc Peeters²  Hannah Zaryouh²  Jorrit De Waele³ 

[1] Precision Oncology Network (IPPON), University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium;

[2] Center for Oncological Research (CORE), Integrated Personalized &

[3] Department of Medical Oncology, Antwerp University Hospital, Edegem, Belgium;

关键词: cetuximab;    epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR);    natural killer cells (NK cells);    combination therapy;    immunotherapy;    antibody-mediated cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC);   

DOI  :  10.3389/fimmu.2021.737311

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Cetuximab has an established role in the treatment of patients with recurrent/metastatic colorectal cancer and head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC). However, the long-term effectiveness of cetuximab has been limited by the development of acquired resistance, leading to tumor relapse. By contrast, immunotherapies can elicit long-term tumor regression, but the overall response rates are much more limited. In addition to epidermal growth factor (EGFR) inhibition, cetuximab can activate natural killer (NK) cells to induce antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). In view of the above, there is an unmet need for the majority of patients that are treated with both monotherapy cetuximab and immunotherapy. Accumulated evidence from (pre-)clinical studies suggests that targeted therapies can have synergistic antitumor effects through combination with immunotherapy. However, further optimizations, aimed towards illuminating the multifaceted interplay, are required to avoid toxicity and to achieve better therapeutic effectiveness. The current review summarizes existing (pre-)clinical evidence to provide a rationale supporting the use of combined cetuximab and immunotherapy approaches in patients with different types of cancer.

【 授权许可】

Unknown