Featured article: autophagic activation with nimotuzumab enhanced chemosensitivity and radiosensitivity of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Chemotherapy and radiotherapy are two indispensible methods for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), especially for those recurring and metastatic ones, but therapeutic toxicity remains a major problem to overcome. In the present study, the potential therapeutic value of nimotuzumab (an antiepidermal growth factor receptor [EGFR] monoclonal antibody) in combination with chemotherapy and radiotherapy was evaluated on Eca109 and TE-1 ESCC cells, with high and low expression of EGFR, respectively. It was shown that nimotuzumab enhanced the sensitivity of Eca109 cells to other cytotoxic agents (paclitaxel and cis-platinum) and X-ray radiation, and the cytotoxicity was associated with increased autophagy. Conversely, the chemo- and radio-sensitivity of TE-1 cells showed no improvement with addition of nimotuzumab, but could be increased by combining with rapamycin, an autophagy inducer. Therefore, it was concluded that autophagic activation mediated by nimotuzumab could promote autophagic cell death and produce additive antitumor effects.