title: HER2 as a therapeutic target in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: The majority of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) present with advanced-stage disease. The current standard of care is surgery followed by adjuvant radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy or chemoradiation alone. The addition of cetuximab for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or recurrent/metastatic HNSCC has improved overall survival and locoregional control; however, responses are often modest, and treatment resistance is common. A variety of therapeutic strategies are being explored to overcome cetuximab resistance by blocking candidate proteins implicated in resistance mechanisms such as HER2. Several HER2 inhibitors are in clinical development for HNSCC, and HER2-targeted therapy has been approved for several cancers. This review focuses on the biology of HER2, its role in cancer development, and the rationale for clinical investigation of HER2 targeting in HNSCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Netanya I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Pollock
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. grandisjr@upmc.edu.
authors.forename: Jennifer R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Grandis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D000077195:Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases