Morgan Sarah, Grandis Jennifer R
Department of Otolaryngology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 200 Lothrop Street, Suite 500, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
Exp Cell Res. 2009 Feb 15;315(4):572-82. doi: 10.1016/j.yexcr.2008.08.009. Epub 2008 Aug 23.
The most common sites of malignancies in the aerodigestive tract include the lung, head and neck and the esophagus. Esophageal adenocarcinomas (EA), esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCC), and squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (SCCHN) are the primary focus of this review. Traditional treatment for aerodigestive tract cancers includes primary chemoradiotherapy (CRT) or surgical resection followed by radiation (or CRT). Recent developments in treatment have focused increasingly on molecular targeting strategies including cetuximab (a monoclonal antibody against epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)). Cetuximab was FDA approved in 2006 for treatment of SCCHN, underscoring the importance of understanding the biology of these malignancies. EGFR is a member of the ErbB family of growth factor receptor tyrosine kinases. The major pathways activated by ErbB receptors include Ras/Raf/MAPK; PI3K/AKT; PLCgamma and STATs, all of which lead to the transcription of target genes that may contribute to aerodigestive tumor progression. This review explores the expression of ErbB receptors in EA, ESCC and SCCHN and the signaling pathways of EGFR in SCCHN.
上消化道恶性肿瘤最常见的发病部位包括肺、头颈部和食管。食管腺癌（EA）、食管鳞状细胞癌（ESCC）以及头颈部鳞状细胞癌（SCCHN）是本综述的主要关注点。上消化道癌症的传统治疗方法包括单纯放化疗（CRT）或手术切除后放疗（或CRT）。近年来，治疗方面的进展越来越多地聚焦于分子靶向策略，包括西妥昔单抗（一种抗表皮生长因子受体（EGFR）的单克隆抗体）。西妥昔单抗于2006年获美国食品药品监督管理局（FDA）批准用于治疗SCCHN，这凸显了了解这些恶性肿瘤生物学特性的重要性。EGFR是生长因子受体酪氨酸激酶ErbB家族的成员。ErbB受体激活的主要信号通路包括Ras/Raf/MAPK；PI3K/AKT；PLCγ和信号转导及转录激活蛋白（STATs），所有这些都会导致可能促进上消化道肿瘤进展的靶基因转录。本综述探讨了ErbB受体在EA、ESCC和SCCHN中的表达以及EGFR在SCCHN中的信号通路。
