Use of Cetuximab for Unresectable or Metastatic Esophageal and Gastric Cancer

Purpose: There remains a great need for novel therapeutic agents and treatment strategies for advanced esophagogastric cancer. Preclinical and clinical studies have demonstrated increased EGFR expression in a significant proportion of both esophageal and gastric carcinomas. Inactivation of EGFR through use of a monoclonal antibody in preclinical models has resulted in inhibition of tumor growth. Agents designed to block the EGFR pathway have demonstrated disease control among previously treated patients with metastatic esophageal and gastric cancer. The proposed mechanism of action for cetuximab is its ability to effectively disrupt EGFR-mediated signal transduction pathways that ultimately leads to halting cell cycle progression, induces apoptosis, and also inhibits processes important for tumor growth, such as cell invasion and angiogenesis.