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Cetuximab: Appraisal of a Novel Drug Against Colorectal Cancer

  • Chapter
Targeted Therapies in Cancer

Part of the book series: Recent Results in Cancer Research ((RECENTCANCER,volume 176))

Abstract

Cetuximab (C225, Erbitux, Merck, Darmstadt, Germany) is a human-mouse chimeric therapeutic monoclonal antibody (mAb) that competitively binds to the extracellular domain of the human epidermal growth-factor receptor (EGFR). It has been developed out of the murine antibody M225 “from bench to bedside” in less than two decades, and is the anti-EGFR mAb furthest ahead in clinical evaluation. In Europe, cetuximab is approved for the treatment of patients with EGFR-expressing, metastatic colorectal cancer after failure of treatment with irinotecan since 2004, and for the treatment of patients with locally advanced squamous cell cancer of the head and neck concomitant to radiotherapy since 2006. We here summarize the current role of cetuximab in the treatment of colorectal cancer, give an overview on the ongoing studies, address the most important controversies, and point out the chances and challenges for the future use of cetuximab in colorectal cancer and other human malignancies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Charité Centrum für Tumormedizin Medizinische Klinik mit Schwerpunkt Hämatologie und Onkologie, Charité Campus Virchow-Klinikum, 13344, Berlin, Germany

    Bert Hildebrandt MD, Philipp le Coutre MD, PhD, Annett Nicolaou MD, Hanno Riess MD, PhD & Bernd Dörken MD, PhD

  2. Charité Centrum 5 für diagnostische und präventive Labormedizin, Institut für Pathologie, Charité Campus Mitte, 13344, Berlin, Germany

    Konrad Kölble MD, PhD

Authors
  1. Bert Hildebrandt MD
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  2. Philipp le Coutre MD, PhD
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  3. Annett Nicolaou MD
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  4. Konrad Kölble MD, PhD
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  5. Hanno Riess MD, PhD
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  6. Bernd Dörken MD, PhD
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Pathologie, Charité Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Schumanstr. 20-21, 10117, Berlin, Germany

    Manfred Dietel

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© 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Hildebrandt, B., le Coutre, P., Nicolaou, A., Kölble, K., Riess, H., Dörken, B. (2007). Cetuximab: Appraisal of a Novel Drug Against Colorectal Cancer. In: Dietel, M. (eds) Targeted Therapies in Cancer. Recent Results in Cancer Research, vol 176. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-46091-6_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-46091-6_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-46090-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-46091-6

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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