FOXD1 Regulates the Sensitivity of Cetuximab by Regulating the Expression of EGFR in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Cancer

Abstract

Objectives. Previous experiments have shown that growth factor receptors play important role in tumor proliferation, metastasis, and therapeutic effect of chemotherapeutic drugs. At the same time, forkhead box D1 (FOXD1) plays an important role in a variety of signal transmission, but its expression profile was known little about head and neck cancer. The purpose of this experiment was to explore the regulation of FOXD1 on the tumor progression of head and neck cancer and to explore the correlation of FOXD1 on the expression of growth factor receptors (EGFR). Methods. The bioinformatics online database analyzed the expression of FOXD1 and EGFR in tumor tissues and nontumor tissues. Real-time quantitative PCR was used to detect the FOXD1 and EGFR expression in 45 tumor tissues and 15 nontumor tissues. The plasmid was used to construct FOXD1 overexpressing head and neck squamous cell cancer lines and observe the clonal formation and invasion of tumor cells under the intervention of EGFR-specific antibody—cetuximab. Results. The expression of FOXD1 and EGFR in tumor tissues was higher than that in nontumor tissues. The higher expression of FOXD1 and EGFR was not conducive to the prognosis of patients. The expression of FOXD1 and EGFR was positively correlated, and immunohistochemical analysis showed the high expression of FOXD1 and EGFR has close relation to the advanced stage of the tumor. In vitro cell experiments proved that overexpression of FOXD1 can partially offset the cloning ability of cetuximab on head and neck tumor cells. Conclusion. FOXD1 has an important regulatory role in the progression of head and neck cancer, and its abnormally high expression was not conducive to the prognosis of cancer patients. FOXD1 can regulate the expression of growth factor receptors in head and neck cancer, which provides a new idea for the better use of tumor growth factor receptor-specific antibodies for collaborative therapy.