Raw research findings for this medication. Mostly single studies, not curated or confirmed robust.
Cetuximab is a biologic medicine, a monoclonal antibody that blocks EGFR, a growth-signal receptor on many cancer cells. Given by drip, it is used for advanced bowel cancer and for head and neck cancer, alone, with chemotherapy or with radiotherapy. It is sold as Erbitux.
Whether cetuximab works in bowel cancer depends above all on the tumour itself: it does not work when the cancer carries mutations in KRAS, NRAS or BRAF, so tumour tissue is tested before treatment. Those mutations arise in the cancer and are not part of the DNA a person was born with. For inherited genes, studies have looked at the antibody receptors FCGR2A and FCGR3A and at the EGF pathway (EGF, AREG), with mixed results. There is no CPIC or DPWG guideline.
Every published finding on gene variants and Cetuximab. Upload your DNA file to see which of these rows apply to you.
PharmGKB weighs all studies of a variant and rates how strong the evidence is, from 1A (strongest) to 4.
KRAS rs112445441: Level 3. Efficacy: Colorectal Neoplasms. 8.
FCGR3A rs396991: Level 3. Efficacy: Neoplasms. 6.
KRAS rs61764370: Level 3. Efficacy: Neoplasms. 6.
EGF rs4444903: Level 3. Efficacy: Colorectal Neoplasms, Rectal Neoplasms. 5.
Studies of how well it worked in people carrying a variant.
Study findings and evidence levels: PharmGKB (CC BY-SA 4.0). Guidelines: CPIC and DPWG, as bundled in PharmCAT. Most studies were done mainly in people of European ancestry.
More drugs from the same category
Not a prescribing recommendation. This page is educational information about pharmacogenomic research and clinical guidelines - it is not medical or dosing advice, and not a prediction of how any medication will work for you. Never start, stop, or change a medication or dose based on it; talk to your doctor or pharmacist, who can order clinical-grade testing if appropriate.
Content updated September 2026.
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