A pilot study of cetuximab and the hedgehog inhibitor IPI-926 in recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Cetuximab is an anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR/ErbB) antibody whose efficacy in treating relapsed/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (R/M HNSCC) is limited by inherent or acquired resistance [1]. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been hypothesized as a possible cause for drug resistance and worse prognosis in HNSCC [2–4]. The Hedgehog signaling pathway (HhP) has been implicated in EMT [5]. In the HhP the sonic hedgehog (SHH) ligand activates a signaling cascade that leads to glioma-associated oncogene family zinc finger 1 (GLI1) expression, which in turn modulates numerous cancer target genes [5,6].

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