Upregulation of cell cycle genes in head and neck cancer patients may be antagonized by erufosine's down regulation of cell cycle processes in OSCC cells.
Overall, our study supports the pursuit of CDK4 and CDK6 inhibitors as a therapeutic strategy for a substantial proportion of HNSCC patients and demonstrates the potential of using PDX models to identify targeted therapies that will benefit patients who have the poorest outcomes.
In summary, combinations of CDK and EGFR inhibitors may be particularly useful in EGFR and p<sup>T356</sup>RB1-expressing or CCND1/CDK6-overexpressing HPV-negative HNSCC.