Watchlist: Will nimotuzumab emerge as one of the best-in-class anti-EGFR MAB?

 Nimotuzumab (h-R3mAb, TheraCIM) is an EGFR targeting monoclonal antibody approved for glioma, malignant astrocytomes and squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck in several countries outside US.  Phase II/III studies for FDA approval are ongoing.

Understanding resistance to targeted cancer therapies via systems biology

On a good day only a small fraction of patients completely respond to modern cancer therapies targeting defined targets, such as EGFR, VEGFR, etc.  The tumors escape, cancer becomes resistant, not only due to accumulation of mutations in the target, but due to reliance on alternate cancer cell survival pathways.  EGFR signaling network is a good example of various pathways cross-talking with each other, creating redundancies and feedback loops.  Robust alternate survival pathways result in poor prognosis for patients.