Abstract
Resistance to anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) monoclonal antibodies (mAb) is common in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) and reliable predictive biomarkers remain lacking. The identification of new predictive biomarkers is therefore necessary to assess the efficacy of anti-EGFR mAb, in order to optimize the therapeutic strategy for mCRC. Micro-RNAs (miR) are small non-coding RNAs that primarily regulate gene expression, and whose dysregulation in anti-EGFR resistance has been widely reported in CRC. Following a previous analysis using a miRnome strategy, the present study focused on NGS (next-generation sequencing) to investigate a broader range of miRNAs. We identified several miR resistance signatures as well as potential target genes and associated pathways following exposure to different doses of cetuximab or panitumumab in colorectal cancer cells. In the context of the search for useful biomarkers for this cancer, this could help optimize the design of in vivo experiments or future prospective clinical trials.