Cancer

Patient sample, cell culture and mouse studies suggest inhibiting SPINK6 or EGFR could help treat nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). In patients, high SPINK6 expression in tumors correlated with a high rate of metastasis and poor survival. In two human NPC cell lines, shRNA targeting SPINK6, antibodies against SPINK6 or EGFR, or the EGFR inhibitor Tarceva erlotinib decreased migration and invasiveness compared with normal SPINK6 expression, control antibodies or vehicle, respectively. In a xenograft rat model of NPC,Tarceva or shRNA targeting SPINK6 in primary tumors decreased the number of metastases in the liver compared with vehicle or normal SPINK6 expression. Next steps could include testing and improving safety and efficacy of SPINK6 or EGFR inhibitors in animal models of NPC...