Figure 2.
A proposed model of cellular cascades triggered by activation of NK cells with cetuximab-coated HNSCC targets. Cetuximab-mediated NK cell-dependent tumor cell lysis results in the generation of EGFR-cetuximab immune complexes which are taken up by DC, processed and presented to TA-specific T cells. CTL recognize and eliminate tumor cells. T regulatory cells may down-regulate NK activity, DC functions and/or CTL activity, leading to tumor immune escape. In addition, defects in the antigen processing machinery component expression contribute to tumor escape from CTL recognition.