The addition of celecoxib improves the antitumor effect of cetuximab in colorectal cancer: role of EGFR-RAS-FOXM1-β-catenin signaling axis

Here we showed that the addition of the COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib improved the antitumor efficacy in colorectal cancer (CRC) of the monoclonal anti-EGFR antibody cetuximab. The addition of celecoxib augmented the efficacy of cetuximab to inhibit cell proliferation and to induce apoptosis in CRC cells. Moreover, the combination of celecoxib and cetuximab was more effective than either treatment alone in reducing the tumor volume in a mouse xenograft model. The combined treatment enhanced the inhibition of EGFR signaling and altered the subcellular distribution of β-catenin. Moreover, knockdown of FOXM1 showed that this transcription factor participates in this enhanced antitumoral response. Besides, the combined treatment decreased β-catenin/FOXM1 interaction and reduced the cancer stem cell subpopulation in CRC cells, as indicated their diminished capacity to form colonospheres. Notably, the inmunodetection of FOXM1 in the nuclei of tumor cells in human colorectal adenocarcinomas was significantly associated with response of patients to cetuximab. In summary, our study shows that the addition of celecoxib enhances the antitumor efficacy of cetuximab in CRC due to impairment of EGFR-RAS-FOXM1-β-catenin signaling axis. Results also support that FOXM1 could be a predictive marker of response of mCRC patients to cetuximab therapy.