Erbitux has been approved for head and neck cancers since 2006. It is not often used as a monotherapy. You could have found out about it right here on the OCF targeted therapies page. It is a targeted EGF antagonist, meaning that it interferes with a cancer cells ability to replicate, but it does not kill them. So it is used in conjunction with other therapies that do kill.
http://oralcancerfoundation.org/treatment/targeted_therapies.htmNew chemo therapies are all looking at the interruption of some cellular function, and this is just one of many coming down the pike. The hope is that the systemic poisons that we currently use, that are so damaging to other non cancerous parts of our bodies, can be reduced or eliminated in the future.
MDACC was my personal cancer alma mater, and I cannot say enough good things about the docs there and the level of their knowledge. I would be totally comfortable following any recommendations that came from them.
