Constitutive activation of truncated EGF receptors in glioblastoma

The pathways of signal transduction utilized by EGFRwt are briefly reviewed, and those used by EGFRvIII compared and contrasted to them, in an effort to elucidate the correlation between expression of EGFRwt and/or EGFRvIII and tumor growth. We expect that effective targeting of the EGFR-mediated growth advantage in gliomas will require inhibition of both EGFRwt and EGFRvIII signaling pathways, as the majority of glioblastomas will express both. Successful targeting of this signaling cascade will be a valuable adjunct to the other specific receptor targeting mechanisms (Mab constructs, ligand bullets) available and demonstrably effective against EGFRwt- and EGFRvIII-expressing tumor cells.