Potential use of EGFR-targeted molecular therapies for tumor suppressor CYLD-negative and poor prognosis oral squamous cell carcinoma with chemoresistance

BACKGROUND: Tumor suppressor CYLD dysfunction by loss of its expression, triggers malignant transformation, especially drug resistance and tumor invasion/metastasis. Although loss of CYLD expression is significantly associated with poor prognosis in a large variety of tumors, no clinically-effective treatment for CYLD-negative cancer patients is available. METHODS: We focused on oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), and sought to develop novel therapeutic agents for CYLD-negative cancer patients with poor prognosis. CYLD-knockdown OSCC cells by using CYLD-specific siRNA, were used to elucidate and determine the efficacy of novel drug candidates by evaluating cell viability and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-like change. Therapeutic effects of candidate drug on cell line-derived xenograft (CDX) model and usefulness of CYLD as a novel biomarker using patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model were further investigated. RESULTS: CYLD-knockdown OSCC cells were resistant for all currently-available cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents for OSCC, such as, cisplatin, 5-FU, carboplatin, docetaxel, and paclitaxel. By using comprehensive proteome analysis approach, we identified epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a receptor tyrosine kinase, played key roles in CYLD-knockdown OSCC cells. Indeed, cell survival rate in the cisplatin-resistant CYLD-knockdown OSCC cells was markedly inhibited by treatment with clinically available EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs), such as gefitinib. In addition, gefitinib was significantly effective for not only cell survival, but also EMT-like changes through inhibiting transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling in CYLD-knockdown OSCC cells. Thereby, overall survival of CYLD-knockdown CDX models was significantly prolonged by gefitinib treatment. Moreover, we found that CYLD expression was significantly associated with gefitinib response by using PDX models. CONCLUSIONS: Our results first revealed that EGFR-targeted molecular therapies, such as EGFR-TKIs, could have potential to be novel therapeutic agents for the CYLD-negative OSCC patients with poor prognosis. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12935-022-02781-x.