Now we are having fun
As the comments on the NCI page about the Bonner trial make clear, the bottom line remains that Erbitux is a gamble.
[quote]Finally, Posner and Wirth wrote, "oncologists should keep in mind that all studies of platinum-based chemoradiotherapy have shown greater improvement in patients than [this trial] found with cetuximab.... At present, for patients who can tolerate it, chemoradiotherapy with cisplatin remains the standard of care." Dansky Ullmann added that a trial that recently completed accrual is testing whether cetuximab might improve outcome when added to this current standard for these patients[/quote]
It's just speculation that Erbitux may be better.
NCI on Erbitux clinical trial In fairness, the full comments favor Karen's position more than mine on HPV, but it also spells out the fatal flaw in citing Bonner for anything to do with HPV
[quote]The prognostic importance of HPV in head and neck cancer was not known when the study was designed, and the investigators did not test tumor samples for HPV.
[/quote] All the Bonner trial showed was that Erbitux was better than nothing (okay, that Erbitux plus radiation was better than radiation with no chemotherapy at all). Oh and it does support �[quote]it is possible that the acneiform rash is a biomarker of an immunological response that is conducive for optimal outcome.�[/quote]
So Bonner "proves" nothing about Eribitux and HPV.
Charm