ArticleClinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research2013
Cetuximab-activated natural killer and dendritic cells collaborate to trigger tumor antigen-specific T-cell immunity in head and neck cancer patients.
Article in Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 196 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
196 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 311 citations in OpenAlex.
- Interferon gamma +874 T/A polymorphism increases the risk of cervical cancer: evidence from a meta-analysis.Tumour biology : the journal of the International Society for Oncodevelopmental Biology and Medicine · 2015Pooled it
- The KRAS-Variant and Cetuximab in HPV-Positive Oropharyngeal Cancer: Results from the NRG/RTOG 1016 Trial.Cancer research communications · 2026Trial
- Long-term Survival and Molecular Biomarker Evaluation of a Phase II Cetuximab and Nivolumab Clinical Trial in Recurrent/Metastatic Head and Neck Cancer.Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · 2026Trial
- An exploratory study of nimotuzumab combined with toripalimab and chemotherapy for locally advanced tonsillar cancer.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Phase II (Alliance A091802) Randomized Trial of Avelumab Plus Cetuximab Versus Avelumab Alone in Advanced Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma.Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2025Trial
- Tislelizumab plus cetuximab and irinotecan in refractory microsatellite stable and RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer: a single-arm phase 2 study.Nature communications · 2024Trial
- T cell repertoire in peripheral blood as a potential biomarker for predicting response to concurrent cetuximab and nivolumab in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.Journal for immunotherapy of cancer · 2022Trial
- Nivolumab in Patients with Recurrent or Metastatic Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck: Efficacy and Safety in CheckMate 141 by Prior Cetuximab Use.Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · 2019Trial
- A Phase I/II Trial of Cetuximab in Combination with Interleukin-12 Administered to Patients with Unresectable Primary or Recurrent Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · 2019Trial
- Combination of KIR2DS4 and FcγRIIa polymorphisms predicts the response to cetuximab in KRAS mutant metastatic colorectal cancer.Scientific reports · 2019Trial
- PD-L1 Mediates Dysfunction in Activated PD-1Cancer immunology research · 2018Trial
- Increased PD-1Cancer immunology research · 2017Trial
- The KRAS-Variant and Cetuximab Response in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Cancer: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA oncology · 2017Trial
- Cetuximab activity in dysplastic lesions of the upper aerodigestive tract.Oral oncology · 2016Trial
- Tadalafil augments tumor specific immunity in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · 2015Trial
- NK cell-mediated tumor cell killing by bispecific innate cell engagers induces ADCC-mediated activation of primary human dendritic cells.Oncoimmunology · 2026Article
- Oncolytic Herpes Virus G47Δ Potentiates ADCC-Inducing Molecular Targeted Therapy via Coordinated Activation of Innate and Adaptive Immune Responses.Molecular cancer therapeutics · 2026Article
- Uncovering the Potential of 3D Spheroids for Modeling the Cellular Crosstalk Within the Tumor Microenvironment in HNSCC.Biotechnology journal · 2026Review
- Beyond Acute EGFR Blockade: Biological Basis and Clinical Evidence for Long-Term Nimotuzumab Therapy.Biomedicines · 2026Review
136 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
purposeTumor antigen-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAb) block oncogenic signaling and induce Fcγ receptor (FcγR)-mediated cytotoxicity. However, the role of CD8(+) CTL and FcγR in initiating innate and adaptive immune responses in mAb-treated human patients with cancer is still emerging. EXPERIMENTAL
designFcγRIIIa codon 158 polymorphism was correlated with survival in 107 cetuximab-treated patients with head and neck cancer (HNC). Flow cytometry was carried out to quantify EGF receptor (EGFR)-specific T cells in cetuximab-treated patients with HNC. The effect of cetuximab on natural killer (NK) cell, dendritic cell (DC), and T-cell activation was measured using IFN-γ release assays and flow cytometry.
resultsFcγRIIIa polymorphism did not predict clinical outcome in cetuximab-treated patients with HNC; however, elevated circulating EGFR(853-861)-specific CD8(+) T cells were found in cetuximab-treated patients with HNC (P < 0.005). Cetuximab promoted EGFR-specific cellular immunity through the interaction of EGFR(+) tumor cells and FcγRIIIa on NK cells but not on the polymorphism per se. Cetuximab-activated NK cells induced IFN-γ-dependent expression of DC maturation markers, antigen processing machinery components such as TAP-1/2 and T-helper cell (T(H)1) chemokines through NKG2D/MICA binding. Cetuximab initiated adaptive immune responses via NK cell-induced DC maturation, which enhanced cross-presentation to CTL specific for EGFR as well as another tumor antigen, MAGE-3.
conclusionCetuximab-activated NK cells promote DC maturation and CD8(+) T-cell priming, leading to tumor antigen spreading and TH1 cytokine release through "NK-DC cross-talk." FcγRIIIa polymorphism did not predict clinical response to cetuximab but was necessary for NK-DC interaction and mAb-induced cross-presentation. EGFR-specific T cells in cetuximab-treated patients with HNC may contribute to clinical response.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.