Caveolin-1 and Sox-2 are predictive biomarkers of cetuximab response in head and neck cancer.

Abstract

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor cetuximab is the only FDA-approved oncogene-targeting therapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Despite variable treatment response, no biomarkers exist to stratify patients for cetuximab therapy in HNSCC. Here, we applied unbiased hierarchical clustering to reverse-phase protein array molecular profiles from patient-derived xenograft (PDX) tumors and revealed 2 PDX clusters defined by protein networks associated with EGFR inhibitor resistance. In vivo validation revealed unbiased clustering to classify PDX tumors according to cetuximab response with 88% accuracy. Next, a support vector machine classifier algorithm identified a minimalist biomarker signature consisting of 8 proteins - caveolin-1, Sox-2, AXL, STING, Brd4, claudin-7, connexin-43, and fibronectin - with expression that strongly predicted cetuximab response in PDXs using either protein or mRNA. A combination of caveolin-1 and Sox-2 protein levels was sufficient to maintain high predictive accuracy, which we validated in tumor samples from patients with HNSCC with known clinical response to cetuximab. These results support further investigation into the combined use of caveolin-1 and Sox-2 as predictive biomarkers for cetuximab response in the clinic.

• Authors: Mehdi Bouhaddou, Rex H Lee, Hua Li, Neil E Bhola, Rachel A O'Keefe, Mohammad Naser, Tian Ran Zhu, Kelechi Nwachuku, Umamaheswar Duvvuri, Adam B Olshen, Ritu Roy, Aaron Hechmer, Jennifer Bolen, Stephen B Keysar, Antonio Jimeno, Gordon B Mills, Scott Vandenberg, Danielle L Swaney, Daniel E Johnson, Nevan J Krogan, Jennifer R Grandis
• Journal: JCI insight (JCI Insight) Vol. 6 Issue 20 (10 22 2021) ISSN: 2379-3708 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 34546978 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural)

Chemical References

• Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological
• Biomarkers, Tumor
• Caveolin 1
• SOXB1 Transcription Factors
• Sox2 protein, mouse
• Cetuximab

Topics

• Animals
• Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological (pharmacology, therapeutic use)
• Biomarkers, Tumor (metabolism)
• Caveolin 1 (metabolism)
• Cetuximab (pharmacology, therapeutic use)
• Head and Neck Neoplasms (diagnosis, drug therapy, physiopathology)
• Humans
• Mice
• SOXB1 Transcription Factors (metabolism)