Epithelial-mesenchymal-transition induced by EGFR activation interferes with cell migration and response to irradiation and cetuximab in head and neck cancer cells

Autocrine activation of EGFR leading to EMT is associated with a metastatic phenotype and reduced sensitivity of SCCHN cells to single-modality treatment with cetuximab or irradiation. The potential of Snail1 as biomarker for selection of patients who will mostly benefit from a combination of cetuximab and radiotherapy has to be evaluated in future clinical studies.